Power Out Risks Rising! 5 Ways Extreme Weather Causes Blackouts

Power Out Risks Rising! 5 Ways Extreme Weather Causes Blackouts

By Sophie Lam 24 September, 2024

Typhoon Yagi was a wakeup call - even ‘typhoon-resistant’ wind turbines can't withstand our accelerating climate. And if they're vulnerable, how about the rest of our unadapted power systems? CWR's Lam breaks down 5 ways power is at risk

Power is often one of the first critical infrastructure to be compromised when extreme weather hits. From heatwaves, droughts, floods, to typhoons, impacts can be catastrophic. Electricity in homes get cut off, businesses & supply chains are disrupted, emergency services go into overdrive, and the list goes on.

Just last month, Typhoon Beryl left 2.7mn people in Texas without power, which took weeks to restore (and that was just caused by one typhoon). According to Climate Central, 80% of major power outages in the US between 2000-2023 were weather-related. Basically, extreme weather is making power systems more vulnerable. And we now know even ‘typhoon-resistant’ wind turbines are not safe after witnessing what Typhoon Yagi did a couple weeks ago.

Given that our current emissions are now tracking 3°C+ of warming, the effects of extreme weather will only intensify. This is on top of chronic risks such as sea level rise which our new report reveals can cause coastal blackouts. So, apart from reading our report, it’s high time to get on top of all the ways power is getting knocked out as climate change accelerates.

Here are 5 ways extreme weather can impact power…

1. Scorching heat is melting electrical systems causing blackouts

Just last month we talked about how heat doesn’t just make us feel uncomfortable, it can actually kill us in many ways. It turns out our electricity grids don’t fare much better than us – like the heart, arteries, and veins in our bodies, it’s made up of power stations, substations, transformers, transmission and distribution lines – an extremely intricate system that wasn’t designed with today’s climate in mind, especially under extreme heat.

Electricity grids weren’t designed with today’s climate in mind…

…e.g melted power lines in the Philippines caused power outages up to 18 hrs & super-hot days in the Balkans spiked electricity consumption causing blackouts

Earlier this year, scorching temperatures melted power lines, insulators, and transformers in Bacolod City in the Philippines leading to 27 cases of restricted/reduced power. Power outages ranged from 25 minutes to 18 hours in some cities.

Meanwhile, over in the Balkans, super-hot days this summer spiked abnormal surges in electricity consumption, overloading the system and causing blackouts across several states. High temperatures have even burned holes in power cables in Portland, USA, which led to the suspension of streetcar services back in June 2021.

Clearly, our grid system can’t take the heat, causing power to fail when we need it the most. And worse, when failing electrical equipment is coupled with hot and dry conditions, entirely new deadly hazards emerge for the power sector.

2. Dry & hot conditions help spawn utility-sparked wildfires leading to planned blackouts

Hotter conditions also dry out vegetation faster and can cause transmission lines to swell and sag, and when downed power lines meet the dry ground, it can spark a fire. Strong winds can also cause conductors to sway into each other, ejecting hot metal particles that can ignite dry vegetation on the ground.

PacifiCorp now faces US$46bn in claims, largely linked to Labour Day fires & Hawaii Electric admitted it’s faulty lines caused the Lahaina fires

In Texas alone, faulty power lines have caused more than 4,000 wildfires in the last three and a half years. Usually when this happens, utility companies are the ones to blame. According to S&P Global, PacifiCorp, the largest grid operator in western United States, now faces at least US$46bn in claims linked to Western US wildfires following recent lawsuits in Oregon – primarily attributable to the catastrophic Labor Day wildfires back in 2020.

More recently, (this time last year) Hawaii Electric acknowledged that one of its downed power lines caused the initial fires that burned down the historic town of Lahaina, displacing more than 12,000 people. The pattern is clear – drier and hotter conditions are creating the perfect breeding ground for utility-sparked fires to spawn.

To prevent this, several states in the US are now going the extra mile by shutting down their entire grid system in the event of wildfire causing weather. In April this year, Colorado’s Excel Energy carried out its first public planned blackout, causing thousands of customers to lose power on short notice.

To prevent this several states in the US are going the extra mile…

…Colorado had its 1st planned blackout & California has been shutting their grid 4-5x a yr due to wildfire causing weather

And while losing power in homes may seem inconvenient for a couple of hours, for those who are hooked up to life saving machines in hospitals, these kinds of blackouts can be deadly.

Already this is the norm in California, as millions have been experiencing public safety power outages for over a decade – especially in the south, shutoffs are occurring as frequently as 4-5 times a year on average and lasting up to 48 hours. However, to ensure that key facilities can continue operating in the event of an outage, hospitals and nursing homes are required to have emergency backup power sources, as well as telecom sites to prevent communication disruptions during emergencies.

3. Overheated waterways can’t cool nuclear plants curbing output or causing shut down

Soaring temperatures can also have a huge impact on power plant cooling. Most of our global electricity comes from thermal power plants that run on fuels such as coal, natural gas & nuclear. To generate electricity, they require water for cooling.

However, when it gets too hot, vital water bodies that are often used to cool power plants like lakes and rivers also overheat, forcing plants to curb electricity output or worse, shut down completely. Nuclear plants are especially vulnerable due to their lower thermal efficiency and high reliance on water for cooling.

In France right now temp breaches in the Garrone curbed output in one of it’s reactors & caused another plant to extend its outage period…

…plus it’s not the first time either – back in 2022, malfunctioning plants caused a ~US$19bn hit to core earnings

Right now, this is happening in France where nuclear plants provide 70% of the nation’s electricity. At the beginning of August this year, temperatures soared above 28°C in the Garonne River, breaching the threshold for cooling, causing the Golfech 1 nuclear plant to reduce output by 1GW.  And just a couple of weeks ago when the Golfech 2 (powering 1.3GW) was about to be switched back on since being offline in March, the first ‘red heat alert’ of the year was issued, leading to a further extension of the outage.

This is also not the first time nuclear plants in France have failed against extreme heat. Electricity cuts due to malfunctioning plants back in 2022 caused a ~US$18.5bn hit to its core earnings. And while we now know that overheated waterways can impact power production, when this situation progresses into a drought, it becomes a whole new problem…

4. Droughts are lowering hydropower output causing coal plants to be switched back on

When a drought occurs, water is held back in reservoirs to provide for drought relief instead of being used to generate electricity. With droughts occurring more frequently, hydropower is increasingly becoming impaired, a huge problem for countries depending on it for electricity.

Last month, Brazil shut off 2 hydro plants due a worsening drought as fossil-fuel plants were notified to prepare for more intense use…

…similarly, in 2022 coal permits grew in Sichuan when hydro was also cut by a drought

For example, Brazil, the second-largest producer of hydroelectricity in the world, was forced to switch off two of its largest hydroelectric plants due to a severe drought last month. And because of the worsening situation, all fossil-fuel power plants have been notified since July to prepare for more intense use in the second half of the year, according to Bloomberg.

Similarly, in the summer of 2022, a severe drought hit the Yangtze River basin, forcing Sichuan, which relies on 80% of its electricity from hydropower, to halve its output. That same year, China’s coal power plant permits also grew dramatically. However, despite the media backlash, this idea of “just-in-case” power, may not be as bad as it seems as China’s new editions of coal-fired capacity doesn’t necessarily equate to more emissions from their power sector according to CREA. For a better explanation, check out this article from The Lantau Group as well as “Water extremes: Grid flexibility & adding “just in case power” in our report No River, No Power.

5. Storms knock down critical power equipment = longer recovery & outage periods

We hear this in the news all too often in Southeast Asia, especially during typhoon season (which is increasingly becoming unpredictable). Strong gusts accompanied by heavy rainfall are causing electric polls to collapse and power lines to snap, resulting in large-scale outages.

Cyclone in Bangladesh uprooted >1k power poles cutting power for 3mn…

…Typhoon Beryl also left millions w/o electricity in Houston

Just a couple of months back, the first major cyclone of the year hit Bangladesh, uprooting more than a thousand power poles which cut power for 3mn people. On top of this, over ten thousand telecom towers were damaged leaving a million people without mobile services. Due to the wide-scale destruction, power was also down for more than two weeks.

It’s not just developing countries like Bangladesh that are suffering prolonged power outages even after a storm. The impact from Typhoon Beryl not long ago, also left millions in Houston without power for over a week. Despite thousands of workers outside of Houston being deployed to prepare for the storm, the extensive damage to trees and power lines still hampered the ability of the city to restore power quickly.

Snowstorms too can have similar effects

Like typhoons, snowstorms can have similar effects – they too can severely damage transmission lines and create hazardous transport links, making it extremely difficult for necessary equipment and personnel to reach affected areas. Look at what happened in Japan – earlier this year a snowstorm knocked out power for 14,000+ homes in several prefectures, and forced the closure of main highways, railways and flights.

And that’s just extreme weather… don’t forget rising sea levels!

Clearly, climate change is intensifying extreme weather risks. Although it might seem like we can manage without electricity for a few days or even weeks at tops, let’s not forget that climate change is also exacerbating chronic risks like sea level rise (now accelerating so unimaginably fast) which can cause permanent blackouts unless adapted.

Given these imminent risks, building energy resilience and transition strategies are no longer nice to have, they are a must – so don’t miss out on our latest report and make sure to read until the end where we cover 5 to-do’s to build power resilience to rising seas.

Further readings

• No River, No Power – are we energy secure when rivers run dry? – CWR’s new report revealed 16 Asian countries’ power generation assets with installed capacity greater than the G7 ex-US face sizeable trifecta exposure from escalating climate risks and rivers running dry. There are clear national energy security implications unpack this reliance on 10 climate-sensitive rivers now!
• Rivers are Running Dry Today – Rivers are our lifelines; they support cities, food & economies for centuries. This summer they were tested with severe drought/floods – will they fail? CWR’s Tan & Lam dive into challenges facing 5 major river basins that are the industrial/agricultural heartlands for China, Pakistan, US and Europe.
• Crude Awakening! Fast rising seas threaten global oil trade & energy security — Almost 2/3rds of global oil produced is shipped by sea but 12 of the Top 15 Tanker Terminals are impacted at just 1m of rising seas. CWR’s new report reveals why oil no longer provides energy security but instead threatens it

More on Latest

• We never imagined we’d have to urgently deal with fast rising seas — Seas are rising so unimaginably fast that the urge to just give up is strong. CWR’s Tan walks us through 8 things she never imagined & her 3 hopes to slow down fast rising seas
• Coastal Power Blackout – Power assets vulnerable to rising seas demand rethink of energy resilience & transition strategies across North Asia — Sea level rise stress tests showed low national exposure but material exposure for clean energy portfolios & significant threats at province/prefecture levels. What exactly does this mean for China, Japan & South Korea and where are the opportunities, find out in CWR’s new report
• CDP The State of Play 2023: Climate Transition Plan Disclosure — Companies disclosing climate transition plans jumped 44% last year but significant disparities exist in the ‘credibility’ & ambition of these plans says Wan, Head Of Capital Markets APAC at CDP. He shares more key findings from their recent report