Reposted from the NoTricksZone
By P Gosselin on 6. February 2021
Green energy and COVID-19 lockdowns are playing energy Russian roulette with people’s lives. Perfect winter storm brewing.
A winter blizzard is set to strike Central Europe, bringing with it the potential to wreak power outage havoc. Temperatures will plummet to as low as -15°C accompanied by bone-chilling high winds. Closed shops due to COVID-19 are leaving citizens unprepared. A protracted power outage would be devastating.
In the coming hours, a high pressure system situated over Scandinavia and storm Tristan to the south will collide over central Europe and develop into dangerous weather conditions over one of Europe’s most populated regions, North Rhine Westphalia Germany.
Watch the Kachelmann forecast (in German) here.
There are some major problems with this storm that will test the German power grid stability and even possibly the citizens’ ability to fend for themselves.
Power grid at risk: hours of freezing rain
First will be the band of freezing rain that is forecast across the Ruhr region of North Rhine Westphalia. According to Kachelmannwetter.de, the freezing rain period could last hours and thus lead to heavy weight loads on power transmission structures as ice builds up. Lines could collapse.
High winds – even heavier loads
To make matters worse, high winds will further exacerbate the loads on the already ice-coated power transmission infrastructure – thus increasing the probability of power line structural failure and an ensuing power blackout, which in turn could cascade and threaten the European power grid.
Winter blackout not unprecedented
Such a blackout would not be unprecedented. In 2006, a major European blackout was caused by a disconnection of a powerline crossing in northwest Germany. The power outage quickly cascaded across Europe, extending from Poland in the north-east, to the Benelux countries and France in the west, through to Portugal, Spain and Morocco in the south-west, and across to Greece and the Balkans in the south-east.
Also just last month a major European blackout was narrowly averted. The cause: wintry weather, which was mild compared to what is forecast to hit soon.
November snow storm 2005
Wintry weather causing a blackout also occurred on November 25, 2005, in northwest Germany when the region was hit by a snow storm. Power transmission lines, which had been poorly maintained over the previous years, collapsed under the weight of ice and caused a large blackout. According to power company RWE, around 250,000 people in 25 municipalities lost power.
Grid more destabilized than ever – unsteady green energies
Another problem with this weekend’s coming storm – in addition to high winds and ice – is the fact that Germany’s power grid is more unstable than ever – thanks to the wildly fluctuating supply from wind and solar energy. Also a number of baseload-providing nuclear and coal power plants have been taken out of service, thus further destabilizing the country’s and continent’s power grid.
Power grid winter Russian roulette with people’s lives
The forecast weather conditions mean almost zero solar energy, and the expected high winds may necessitate the shutdown of wind turbines or cause wild feed-in fluctuations. One thing is certain, the grid will be challenged over the coming hours and days.
Most likely the grid will hold up and keep everyone out of the cold and darkness. But the bad news is that in the wintertime the country’s power grid has turned into a game of energy roulette and citizens have to rely on “a little luck” every time the weather turns stormy and frigid cold – thanks in large part to disastrous energy policies by the German government.
The worst time for any blackout is during a period of blizzard and bitter cold. People can freeze to death quickly. In such times they rely more than ever on a stable power supply.
What if there’s a longer term blackout?
For my wife and I here in northwest Germany, we would be toast.
With this weekend’s forecast high winds and temperatures dropping to near -15°C, we’d not only lose both power but also heat. Our natural gas furnace is controlled electrically, so it would cease to function too. Within hours the house would turn very cold and uninhabitable. We don’t have a woodstove or a fireplace. We’d have to move in with friends or relatives who have wood heat.
It would not be possible to go out and buy a generator to power the furnace because the stores are closed – due to Corona! I’ve got a gas bottle for the barbecue grill, but it’s almost empty. And I can’t fill it because the shops are closed – due to Corona. What a time for a lockdown – just when people need to be preparing the most.
Without heat at home, we could just stay at a hotel, right? Wrong. They’re closed too – because of COVID. So are bars and restaurants.
All the ingredients for a perfect disaster
Across the country, many people face the same scenario. Most would somehow get by, I’m sure. But if a blackout should occur, many will risk freezing to death in large part because of the self-inflicted green energies grid instability and the Corona lockdowns making it impossible for them to prepare properly.
We can almost see the perfect disaster brewing.
Unfortunately, this is what the government has left its citizens with: hope for the best! A game of energy Russian Roulette. The winter bullet is in the chamber. We can only hope to miss it.
The Boy Scout motto comes to mind “Be prepared”. I filled all of my propane tanks several weeks ago because of threatening snow storms. As I do not want to have to run to town when the roads are snowed in. I am now good to stay at home into April. I have been watching that 500hPa cold spot grow all through the winter. It is amazingly long lived this winter.
If you believe the solar minimum people then from now on it is just going to get colder and colder during winter and that does appear to be happening.Antarctica has above average ice cover and sea ice last winter , so does Greenland , the Arctic is a smidgen below average but rising and at -30oC , 90% of Glaciers are advancing around the world , the whole of Russia is frozen solid ,really cold ! , -22oC in central Chicago today , vast areas of the US very very cold , all of the UK, Ireland , France , Germany below freezing , where is the Global Warming ?, certainly not in the Southern Hemis. Coolest winter we have had for years , Australia very cool in the south , 13oC along southern coastline . In NZ warm days yes but very cool nights .
The controls are likely analog in function and powered by direct current.
Look up the power requirements and wiring and install a backup battery.
Surely everyone knows what will happen if there is a power disaster?
It will be immediately attributed to Global Warming. The deep freeze will be described as extreme weather, and extreme weather will be said to be due to Global Warming.
The solution will then be clear, Germany will have to reduce emissions further, so the argument will be that the last thing to be done is move to non-renewable power generation.
On the contrary, the argument will be that we must turn off all the non-renewable power and quickly start using the renewable power we have to do carbon capture, which we will bury somewhere in the Harz mountains, thus making Germany carbon negative.
The disaster will have shown the urgency of the climate crisis and the urgency of reducing our emissions below zero. It will have shown we only have months not years to act.
Anyone mentioning China, or voicing any skepticism that the proposed reductions will have any effect on the climate, will be prosecuted under laws which prohibit hate crime and deliberate misinformation. They will first be educated, and if that fails and they persist, will be imprisoned. Meanwhile, no-one will cover their speeches, their Internet and phone connexions will be cancelled, no media will publish anything they write, if they try to rent meeting rooms there will be none available.
Anyone calling this censorship will have it explained to them by the authorities that this has nothing to do with censorship. This is just private companies doing what they think is best for their owners. And to suggest its anything like censorship, well, that is getting uncomfortably close to hate speech and misinformation, don’t you know.
I have been saying for years that all lines should be underground. No more maintenance costs and no fear of interruptions barring a major earthquake.
“Such a blackout would not be unprecedented. In 2006, a major European blackout was caused by a disconnection of a powerline crossing in northwest Germany. The power outage quickly cascaded across Europe, extending from Poland in the north-east, to the Benelux countries and France in the west, through to Portugal, Spain and Morocco in the south-west, and across to Greece and the Balkans in the south-east.”
So, I guess it would not take too much effort for a foreign enemy, say Russia/China, to take down the entire European electricity grid in one fell swoop. Take out one powerline and you are done. Heck, I guess a terrorist group is capable of doing something like that, too.
That’s not a good situation to be in. European politicians leave a lot to be desired. I suppose I should expand that to include all the Western Democratic nations. Good, clear-seeing politicians are few and far between.
From the article: “The forecast weather conditions mean almost zero solar energy, and the expected high winds may necessitate the shutdown of wind turbines or cause wild feed-in fluctuations.”
And the alarmist’s goal is to power our entire economy with windmills and solar panels. Does everyone see the problem with doing this? Perhaps everyone will see this windmill/solar panel stupidity for what it is next week.
Minus 15* C!!!! We in Canada think that is a balmy winter day.
There’s no such thing as bad weather– only the wrong clothes.
ottostoever@gmail.com
Here in Florida USA nothing is closed, there are no restrictions on anyone or anything, and cases are about the same as anywhere else.
Maybe not as bad as some places.
Almost everyone wears a mask anyway.
Most stores have a sign saying customers need to wear one.
Last month I was able to buy a 20 pack of 3M N-95 masks at a HVAC supply store for $17.
No one seems to talk or worry about it much.
We have had no restrictions since last Summer.
But people are dying.
My oldest brother was just intubated today. He lives in the Philly area.
I am expecting the worst.
BTW…I am still paying about 8 or 9 cents per kilowatt-hour of power, we have zero wind potential here, and about the only chance of an outage for more than a short while is from a direct hit by a major hurricane. And they are working on that.
With no travel restrictions and Joe Biden amnesty…I would suggest looking into a permanent Florida Vacation for anyone really worried or pissed off.
Sorry to hear about your brother, Nicholas.
Don’t give up hope. I saw a while ago where a 90-year-old woman had spent something like 90 days in the hospital with the Wuhan virus, and she eventually survived it.
Hopefully, your brother won’t have as difficult a time of it.
Thank you Tom.
Of course there is always hope, but I think everyone knows being intubated means things are not going well for a patient.
At least now he is sedated in a medically induced coma (or so I understand is the case when someone in intubated), so at least he is not suffering through it anymore.
I would hate to see my 14 year old niece lose her father.
I think teenagers rarely take the death of a parent well.
Some advice to anyone to whom it applies: If you smoke, quit. If you do not get any sort of routine or even occasional medical care or periodic checkups, start. And if something is wrong, do not ignore it for a year.
Living in an era of miraculously advanced medical science is worse than useless if one does not avail oneself of it.
Im sorry for you germans, but a total collapse of the electricity i Europe is just what is needed now. It is the only thing that can bring sanity an intelligence back in the debate. A lot of politicians have had “green” energi as their top priority, and they have been ignoring the ugly facts. Wind and solar energy is NOT sufficient for a society. It is a disaster!
But without a total collapse some day they would just go on pretending its ok. The only thing that could wake up the public is a total collapse. Sorry for those that will get hurt, but better soon than later.
Governments in western countries are driving the AGW narrative and disrupting their energy systems for reasons few of us can fathom. However as this article shows if the cold climate really arrives the most fanatical CC politicians will realise that their constituents will not stand for being frozen to death to ‘save the planet’. Coal and gas plus nuclear will be quickly put back into service and hopefully the next global scaremongering scam will be some new crazy idea. Maybe critical race theory meaning white people have to go?
I am curious about people and how they prepare for these events. We are expecting -27C low on Thursday, with a daytime high of around -17C. It’s the coldest week of winter so far. Because we live a long way out in the country, we have a wood stove, 55 gallons of water in a barrel plus bottled water for drinking, and a fully stocked pantry. Ads run all the time telling people to be prepared to be “on your own” for two weeks minimum (meaning no electricity, no water, no services). I don’t know how many people actually follow that advise, but it’s something we hear all the time here in Wyoming.
Yes, Covid made stocking up more difficult, but I would just buy what I needed and have it sent to my house throughout the last few months. I suppose because I have the space, this is easier for us than others. This is just part of my life and has been for decades. People seem very dependent on utilities and stores. It’s not a criticism, just an observation of the difference in living on one’s own versus city living and differences in living in various countries.
I think that is probably why big cities tend to vote Democrat.
I think big city folks realize they are totally dependent on the government providing for them, and so they feel more beholden to government than rural people for their survival, and they look favorably on government as a result, rather than looking at government as an impediment to freedom, the way rural people do.
We had alredy two collapses of heating power plants, one in east Germanay and one in Nuremberg, Bavaria. Emergency is called out, and poeple are allowed to seek warm housing by friends and neighbour despite corona lockdown.
Wrong, it’s “wanted” Green Energy”.