Lies, Lies, And More Lies -- An Update On That UK Grid Failure -- August 16, 2019

From iceagenow:

A huge power failure in the UK on 10 Aug 2019 cut power to trains, traffic lights and millions of people at home. Two power plants caused the failure. The official report claims that the Little Barford gas-fired station in East Anglia failed first, then, 2 minutes later, an offshore wind farm (Hornsea) in the North Sea failed 2 minutes later.

This is a lie, says WUWT (WattsUpWithThat).

The truth as revealed by detailed research by blogger is that the wind farm clearly failed first, and caused the whole event. Like the captain of the Titanic aiming for a transatlantic speed record, the UK national grid were aiming for a record percentage of power from wind. They reduced the safety margin of grid inertia for this purpose, and the result was disaster:

... the blackout’s primary cause was the sudden loss of output from Hornsea wind farm, though the precise cause of that remains unknown at this stage: likely candidates are a failure at the offshore transmission platform where the voltage is boosted to 220kV, somewhere along the cable to shore, or at the grid connection point (at Killingholme on the Humber) onshore. The really damning evidence comes in this tweet that shows grid frequency based on 1 second data. 

So much more at the link. The story is tracked here.

***********************************

The Sports Page

$330 Million Contract 

What A Great County

Probably Won't Catch Bryce Kneeling

Bryce Harper.

Last night's win.

The Cubs got yet another gem from Yu Darvish on Thursday night, and they led 5-0 going into the eighth inning.

At one point in the bottom of the ninth, the Cubs had a 99.4 percent chance of winning the game.

That's when the bullpen meltdown began. With one out, a David Bote error allowed the gates to open. Rowan Wick, Pedro Strop, and then Derek Holland proved unable to stop the bleeding.

The Phillies pulled to within 5-3, and with one out and the bases loaded Bryce Harper stepped in against Holland. First comes the power, then comes the glory ... a grand slam homer ...

And more:

Prior to tonight, the Cubs had won 489 straight games when leading by 4+ runs in the 9th or later, the longest active streak in the NL.That's also the first Phillies come-from-behind, walk-off grand slam since September of 1983. 

From wiki:

Harper won the National League (NL) Rookie of the Year Award in 2012 and tied for the NL lead in home runs in 2015. He was named the NL Most Valuable Player for 2015 by unanimous decision of the Baseball Writers' Association of America; at age 23, he became the youngest MLB baseball player to win the award.

As a free agent during the 2018–19 offseason, he signed a 13-year, $330 million contract with the Phillies, the richest contract in the history of North American sports at the time. 

*********************************

Give Me Room

Once they go to EVs, Slim will have to change the lyrics.