Windy Days and Power Shortages
Breakdowns spark National Grid crisis in power supply - Times Online
The crumbling state of Britain’s electricity network was exposed yesterday when power station breakdowns caused the first energy shortage of the autumn.National Grid was forced to call for more power from electricity generators..power suppliers were asked to bring all their available generating capacity online, including expensive oil-fired units.
But it's very windy out there today, what do you mean the whirligigs won't supply us enough juice?
BBC NEWS | Magazine | When the wind doesn't blow
By 2020, more than a third of Britain's electricity will be generated by wind power, according to government plans. One problem - six out of 10 days aren't windy enough to make sufficient power. So what happens then?
Quite.
Comments
If 33% of the nation's electricity has to come from 40% of the available time, that would imply that while the whirligigs are whirling, that they supply a minimum of 82.5% of the demand. With statistical modeling like that, is it any wonder the economy us quite so buggered?
Posted by: Englishman Abroad | September 5, 2008 11:38 AM
"Other options for Britain would be to store its wind power in giant batteries, but this is difficult and very expensive"
Is this guy serious? Just imagine the Greenies going blue at the prospect of all that lead and sulphuric acid (the only feasible large-scale method?) apart from the massive losses when charging / discharging all those batteries.
What are they going to call the new terrorist targets? Battery farms? No, wrong connotations - it would have to be "free range electricity farms"
Posted by: Alec in France | September 6, 2008 11:14 AM
The best place for 'wind generators' is in the parliamentary lobby. Seven days a week, at least an f8 of hotair.
Posted by: max the impaler | September 6, 2008 3:18 PM