A study done by a green charity in Great Britain has accidentally stumbled upon an inconvenient truth about wind farms.
They're useless. The Telegraph:
This analysis uses publicly available data for a 26 month period between November 2008 and December 2010 and the facts in respect of the above assertions are:Average output from wind was 27.18% of metered capacity in 2009, 21.14% in 2010, and 24.08% between November 2008 and December 2010 inclusive.
There were 124 separate occasions from November 2008 till December 2010 when total generation from the windfarms metered by National Grid was less than 20MW. (Average capacity over the period was in excess of 1600MW).
The average frequency and duration of a low wind event of 20MW or less between November 2008 and December 2010 was once every 6.38 days for a period of 4.93 hours.
At each of the four highest peak demands of 2010 wind output was low being respectively 4.72%, 5.51%, 2.59% and 2.51% of capacity at peak demand.
Ooops!
Compare the facts with the assertions of greenies and government regarding wind farms; that they will generate 30% of their rated capacity over a year; that "the wind is always blowing somewhere;" that low winds are not a problem; that low winds will not occur at peak operating times; and that hydro power can pick up the slack when wind power fails.
Each of those assertions has been proved false by the study.
Maybe if we all just put our lips together and blew, we could make it happen?
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