Grid Status’ Post

Clean and public data helps to support understanding knock-on effects from both benign and tragic events. Modern systems are thoroughly interconnected and the electric grid is only becoming more central as we move forward. Hopefully the tools we put out in the public can help people and organizations to move more quickly from signal to understanding and action.

It appears that the news reports relating to the damage to Houston's power infrastructure are vastly understating the extent of the damage and the likely disruption that this is going to cause. The storms came through on Thursday. As of this morning 431,991, roughly 21.7% of Harris County customers were still without power. Among the damaged power lines are a double 345-kV CenterPoint transmission circuit connecting the Zenith Substation to the T. H. Wharton Substation and power plant. Multiple towers carrying this circuit are now down in the area where Mason Road crosses the CenterPoint transmission right-of-way near Avalon at Cypress (Bridgeland Subdivision) in Northwest Harris county just east of the Grand Parkway (Hwy 99). I do not pretend to have the knowledge and experience to estimate the time necessary to reconstruct these towers and reactivate these circuits, but this doesn't appear to me to be a project that is going to be measured in days. Separately, a single CenterPoint 345-kV circuit carrying what seems to be a White Oaks to Addicks Circuit is also down near the point this circuit crosses the Northwest Freeway (Hwy 290). The 345-kV transmission circuits are the primary means of moving bulk power around the region. This is NOT merely an outage caused by trees knocking down small power distribution lines. Photo Credit: ABC 13 Houston (via MSN)

The scale of this infrastructure failure is staggering and demanding in the supply chain. Our energy providers in Texas as are in full war room mode and working extremely long hours. Out of state linemen, engineers,and support staff are working around the clock as they always do in these emergencies. The real test in my opinion is not going to be the manpower but rather the supply chain and potential lack of materials for this high transmission interregional transmission system. These infrastructure projects of this scale are planned years in advance and use equipment built to job spec, I don’t pretend to know but it’s unlikely there are warehouses full of this level of equipment sitting around. We as developers have been battling for years the supply issues with just the small green transformers on retail lot levels. Unfortunately this equipment need is on an entirely different scale. The attached post says it better than I but I would suggest that our country needs to address standardization. We also need to refuce the constant regulation changes that pushes transformer and heavy transmission manufacturers off shore. Well that’s my opinion what’s yours.

Avail Infrastructure is revolutionizing emergency power solutions with their state-of-the-art mobile substations. When unexpected power outages strike, our mobile substations provide a reliable and efficient temporary power source, ensuring uninterrupted operations. Learn more at https://hubs.li/Q02xgH5J0 #EmergencyPower #MobileSubstations #AvailInfrastructure

Avail Infrastructure is revolutionizing emergency power solutions with their state-of-the-art mobile substations. When unexpected power outages strike, our mobile substations provide a reliable and efficient temporary power source, ensuring uninterrupted operations. Learn more at https://hubs.li/Q01XBXDN0 #EmergencyPower #MobileSubstations #AvailInfrastructure

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is considering a plan to connect to the eastern electrical grid, potentially ending its isolation and boosting reliability during winter storms. A 400-mile transmission line would be built from Texas across Louisiana and into Mississippi. The line could import 2,000 megawatts to Texas, enough for 400,000 homes, during grid emergencies. Approvals have been granted by federal and Texas regulators, but permits are pending in Louisiana and Mississippi. Construction is expected to begin in 2026 and finish in 2029. The connection could prevent blackouts like those in February 2021, when extreme cold crippled the Texas grid. However, Texas has historically resisted joining other grids to avoid federal oversight, but some experts believe ways to maintain independence exist. A similar project connecting ERCOT to the El Paso grid was rejected due to state law. Some experts believe connecting to both eastern and western grids would further enhance Texas's preparedness for severe weather.

Improvement is quite visible in State Electricity boards . I happened to visit one distribution sub station of TNEB in a small town headed by a Woman JE . Major challenge was language barrier in interaction with lower staff, no common language. The good thing is that Technical parlance is similar in all languages. The substation was nicely maintained, clean environment, DP mounted structure also looked well arranged no loose joints. My first query -Is there any load shedding being done they said no shedding since a few years. next query how many outages in day response was three days back it happened. Really surprising that the power supply is almost uninterrupted for days. Certainly things have changed drastically across the sector .

in a substation's DC system, why is there half of system voltage at positive to ground? For example, in a 110v DC system 55v is found at a positive to a ground terminal. It is quite common in higher voltage DC power supplies used in substations and switchrooms to centre tap the battery bank and to ground this centre tap. This may be a direct connection, or may it be connected through a grounding resistor. For example, a 110Vdc system may have 56 lead acid 2V cells in series. At the junction of cells 28 and 29, a ground connection is made, often through a resistor. This is done for two reasons. Firstly, it means that the maximum touch voltage of any battery terminal to ground in a 110Vdc system will be 55Vdc, which should be survivable, Secondly, it gives us an earth reference for the system. So if one of the battery poles shorts to ground, this will manifest itself as earth leakage current through the centre tap grounding resistor. This can be detected and the correct safety response can be initiated.

Avail Infrastructure is revolutionizing emergency power solutions with their state-of-the-art mobile substations. When unexpected power outages strike, our mobile substations provide a reliable and efficient temporary power source, ensuring uninterrupted operations. Learn more at https://hubs.li/Q02xgFBr0 #EmergencyPower #MobileSubstations #AvailInfrastructure