Crazy test board talk!I'm really interested in the exact equipment that failed. Supplier and part number. I design Smart Grid equipment (IEEE-1613) for a living. The standard requires -40C (-40F) cold start and -40C sustained requirements for all equipment. 5F or -20F should never be an issue by itself. On the other end, it also must operate at 85C (185F) for a minimum of 16 hours without any errors (we design and test for >96 hours). Our equipment is incrementally more expensive than many of our competitors (+15%), and we lose deals on cost. A few of our competitors only operate 0 to 70C, and are less expensive for certain.
The outdoor equipment is also tested to ice buildup in the NEMA/IP standards and testing. The water goes through multiple freeze/thaw cycles to verify and validate all seals (and thus water ingress capability)
This is why I'm very interested in what specifically failed. We'll never get the information, as that will put a few bureaucrats and purchasing agents at severe risk. These people are very good at covering their tracks and diverting blame. We'll see
There will be lots of studying into find out what went wrong . @Obliviax posted on the test board that many of the nat gas pumping stations used electricity from wind turbines to power them. Didn’t post a link.But when the turbines shut down that shut down many nat gas pipelines.
And the problem with the turbines doesn’t appear to be the cold but the heavy icing. I hear turbines in northern areas, especially off shore, have heated blades to shed ice but not this far south.