Wind Generation Facts

Wind Generation: What are the facts?

DID YOU KNOW:

That Meridian's Te Apiti wind farm only produces approximately 35% of its possible maximum installed capacity?

WHY IS THIS?

The intermittency of the wind, even in the Manawatu, does not result in high average outputs from wind farms.

AS A RESULT:

Suitable alternative sources of energy from conventional (fossil fuel-burning) generating facilities must be maintained.

Reuben Goldberg (1883-1970) was an American cartoonist famous for conceiving very complicated and impractical machines that accomplish little or nothing. Does this sound familiar? Read Jon Boone's account of why wind as a renewable energy source just doesn't deliver.

The Halkema report also outlines why wind as a renewable energy source should not be trumpeted as being a one stop shop for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The use of wind as a renewable energy source is not the magic bullet that some would like us to think.

The current gold rush for carbon credits is a huge incentive for energy companies and local city councils to lead the concerned public into accepting wind turbines as the panacea for reversing the Greenhouse Effect. However, behavioural changes are key to altering a complacent public mindset on global climate change and greenhouse gas emissions.

New Zealand energy companies, many of which are State Owned Enterprises, where the major shareholder is the Minister for Finance, put considerable effort into slick media presentations and being 'economical with the facts'. Some of the facts are mysteriously absent from this discourse, for instance the difficulties of matching wind variation with load variation.

There is mounting evidence against wind generation delivering what is promised. Load balancing is the term for matching generation to demand, and it is a key component of a reliable electricity supply. Yet wind is inherently unpredictable and highly variable. Peak demand must be met without variations which can lead to surges, loss of power and even blackouts. The grid cannot rely on wind generation precisely when it is needed.

The power output from wind turbines is erratic and requires continual balancing from other sources that can compensate immediately for variable wind generation. If hydro is being fully utilised to meet base loads, this means a thermal plant must be on standby and up to steam, i.e. generating carbon dioxide. Savings in carbon dioxide must take into account any thermal station on standby.

David White's analysis shows that a substantial part of the theoretical carbon dioxide saving does not accrue in practice. As thermal plants are ramped up and down to compensate for wind variation, the unit emission of carbon dioxide increases.

What can we learn from other countries?

Denmark's wind turbines provide 20% of Danish installed capacity, but only provide 1-2% to the supply of actual power. Installed capacity is the maximum theoretical power that can be generated, but this is never possible because the wind is unpredictable, unreliable, and rarely blows at the optimum speed required.

Demark has 6000 wind turbines and is at the bottom of European nations in meeting its Kyoto emission reduction goals.

Germany's 18,000 large wind turbines produce about 6% of the nation's total power. A 2004 study found that adding 1000 MW of installed wind generation to the grid increased the grid's firm generating capacity by only 80 MW, i.e. 8% of the installed wind capacity (see www.eon-energie.com).

In February 2005, a German government's energy agency recommended the emphasis should be on efficiency rather than spending money on expensive and inefficient wind generation. ("Report doubts future of wind power", article in the UK Guardian)

Carbon and energy credits distort the reality

An American Wind Energy Association spokesperson said that you can't count on wind energy as capacity because it can't be dispatched as it is needed. ("CAL-ISO Offers Sobering Wind Assessment", reported at the Industrial Wind Action Group)

Trust Power had planned to build a 260 MW wind facility at Southdown in South Australia, but this was reduced to 88 MW because South Australia brought in strict technical requirements for connecting to the grid to ensure it could cope with the development of wind power. ("TrustPower's wind beachhead", Dominion Post, January 13 2007)

Be More Efficient

There are plenty of things you can do to reduce your energy expenditure:

• A 3-minute shower uses about 30 litres of water, a bath 100 litres.
  
• A microwave uses only half the amount of electricity as a stove.
  
• Hot water heating can account for 50% of your power bill!
  
• Showers are cheaper to run than baths, and a low-flow shower head will save further.
  
• Space heating accounts for around 20% of your power bill.
  
• Don't let your money go up in steam. Try setting your water heater on "low" - about 45 degrees Celsius.
  
• Install energy efficient light bulbs, particularly for lights left on for long periods - they use about a 1/4 of the energy and last 10 times longer.
  
• Lighting accounts for around 6% of your power bill.

You can learn more about communities from all over the world that are sharing in the struggle to highlight the inadequacies of wind energy and how there needs to be sensible decisions made on where installations should be, through Wind Action - www.windaction.org.