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Extreme weather events and the energy sector in 2021

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Hannah BloomfieldORCiD

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Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).


Abstract

In 2021, the energy sector was put at risk by extreme weather in many different ways: North America and Spain suffered heavy winter storms that led to the collapse of the electricity network; California specifically experienced heavy droughts and heatwave conditions, causing the operations of hydropower stations to halt; floods caused substantial damage to energy infrastructure in central Europe, Australia and China throughout the year, and unusual wind drought conditions decreased wind power production in the United Kingdom by almost 40% during summer. The total economic impacts of these extreme weather events are estimated at billions of USD. Here we review and assess in some detail the main extreme weather events that impacted the energy sector in 2021 worldwide, discussing some of the most relevant case studies and the meteorological conditions that led to them. We provide a perspective on their impacts on electricity generation, transmission and consumption, and summarize estimations of economic losses.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Anel JA, Perez-Souto C, Bayo-Besteiro S, Prieto-Godino L, Bloomfield HC, Troccoli A, de la Torre L

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Weather Climate and Society

Year: 2024

Pages: Epub ahead of print

Online publication date: 13/02/2024

Acceptance date: 25/01/2024

Date deposited: 16/02/2024

ISSN (print): 1948-8327

ISSN (electronic): 1948-8335

Publisher: American Meteorological Society

URL: https://doi.org/10.1175/WCAS-D-23-0115.1

DOI: 10.1175/WCAS-D-23-0115.1

ePrints DOI: 10.57711/ab7s-7x88


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Funding

Funder referenceFunder name
ED431C 2021/44
Xunta de Galicia

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