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In February 2021, millions of Texans were left without power for days due to power outages caused by a deadly winter storm.
The storm caused subfreezing temperatures and overwhelmed the state’s electricity infrastructure, causing massive power outages across every type of power source: natural gas, coal, wind, and nuclear.
At the height of the crisis, nearly 4.5 million Texas homes and businesses were without power.
As a result of the storm’s impact on the wind and solar power systems in the Lone Star State, many people focused on Texas’ wind and solar infrastructure when looking to see how the impact could have been mitigated.
Despite popular belief, lower wind production wasn’t solely to blame for the spike in energy prices. According to Paige Janson, chief operating officer, of sustainable resource management at ENGIE Impact, renewable energy resources are often the solution to modern energy challenges, and corporate investment in wind and solar is only expected to grow as companies modernize their energy infrastructure.
An onset of relatively rare, low-probability events triggered a cascade of effects. So what were the key factors that caused the power outage in Texas and what does this mean for solar and wind energy industries in the future?
