Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumIntermittent Nature of Green Power Is Challenge for Utilities
The 21 turbines at the Kingdom Community Wind farm in Vermont soar above Lowell Mountain, a testament in steel and fiberglass to the states growing use of green energy.
Except when they arent allowed to spin at their fastest. That has been the case several times in the farms short existence, including during the record July heat wave when it could have produced enough much-needed energy to fuel a small town. Instead, the grid system operator held it at times to just one-third of what it could have produced.
We were being told to turn on diesel-fired units that are very expensive and dirty and told to ramp down what is renewable, cost-effective energy for our customers, said Mary Powell, chief executive of Green Mountain Power, the utility that owns and operates the wind plant. We should go with the sources that can have the highest value, especially during peak times.
It is not the first time the grid system operator, ISO New England, which operates in six states, has cut back energy from the farm since it began operating at the end of last year, or from others in the region, including some in Maine and New Hampshire. Other windy states and regions like Texas and the Midwest have experienced similar cutbacks, known as curtailments.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/15/business/energy-environment/intermittent-nature-of-green-power-is-challenge-for-utilities.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130815&_r=0
mbperrin
(7,672 posts)The story makes it clear that wind makes more electricity than lines can carry, and that the decision to use fossil fuels is simply a political one.
The entire city of Presidio, Texas is on a backup battery so that if their only line goes down during a storm, which it often does, they will still have power.
Another huge megabattery is located 15 miles from my home. The writer needs to get out more and look at turbines. They never interfere with birds or bats - they turn at 2 mph. (!)
quadrature
(2,049 posts)on a certain July day, (what day?)
they were told to turn on diesel generators.
is that really what happened?
did all this happen at the same time?
what time of the day was that?
did the generators need their once-a-month-
turn-on?