It is safe to say that solar panel installations in the path of Hurricane Harvey are finding it impossible or nearly so to generate electricity this week in south Texas.
It is also safe to say that wind turbines in the area are not faring so well, either. According to the online news source North American Wind Power, one large installation in the path of the storm sent all 39 workers home as the hurricane closed in, but operated remotely until the wind hit 55 mph. It was then shut down. Others were challenged by the “intermittency of wind” said a knowledgeable source.
Many wind farms shut down automatically when the wind surges to extreme conditions, the article said.
But two reactors at the South Texas Project, 90 miles southwest of Houston, kept churning out power despite the conditions outside, Reuters reported.
The reactors kept operating despite the storm with wind gusts that peaked at 130 mph.
A plant spokesman Buddy Eller said the plant was not hit by sustained winds of great strength, but he said the plant was equipped with beds for 250 staff members, so they could ride out the storm and stay safe at the plant. "We are going to do what's right from a safety standpoint," he said.
While the storm raged, multiple watchdog groups called for a shut down of the plant, fearing the storm would threaten safety. A Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) spokesman, Scott Burnell, said in an email that the plant owned by NRG Energy Inc. (44 percent), CPS Energy (40 percent) and Austin Energy (16 percent) "[has] been operating safely throughout Harvey and continue to do so.” NRC personnel were on site at the plant throughout the week, the agency said.