"Failures of wind and solar during severe weather events are a problem, but a larger problem is that failures are not confined to severe winter storms. In fact, these failures occur on a daily and even hourly basis. During the summer months, wind tends to die down in the afternoons, causing large drops in wind-generated electricity. Later afternoon rain storms can reduce solar generation significantly."
For reasons of politics and government intervention over a quarter-century, Texas is the largest wind power producer and second-largest solar producer in the U.S. and will likely surpass California, the leading solar power state, within a year.
An epic failure of wind and solar in Texas was during Winter Storm Uri in February 2021.
In Texas, the higher-than-normal air conditioning loads coupled with its high installed capacity of wind and solar have been challenging for the load management on the ERCOT power grid for two reasons: the wind tends to subside on hot afternoons, and solar panels lose capacity due to the high temperatures.
This leads to a double whammy for the Texas power grid of losing electric generating capacity from both wind and solar.
Note that the Maximum Capacity for solar is 21,162 megawatts, while its summer capacity is only 12,636 MW. The "Maximum Capacity" for wind is 38,695 MW, while its Summer Capacity is only 10,427 MW. The low summer capacity for wind is due to the fact that winds die down in hot afternoons, so wind turbines fail to produce anywhere near their capacities.
ERCOT is doing a commendable job managing the Texas power grid this hot summer-even with the largest wind and second-largest solar portfolio in the US-thanks to Texas being the largest natural gas producer in the country.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/08/21/wind-output-plaguing-texas-ercot-weathers-on/
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