[CutePuppy]

... as long as use is made of up-to-date wind forecasts.

Well, good luck to them... And they are worried about excess electricity generated by coal-fired plants? Only in Bizarro World it makes any sense.

Here is where the wind hits the fan: Shocking Cost of Green Energy?

Charles Crumpley is editor of the Business Journal - 2/23/2009

.....

I’m no electrical engineer, but I saw one report that said the kind of transmission line needed to carry the variable jolts of juice that come from renewable power plants is different from the line needed to carry uniform current from a traditional generating plant. That means the new lines can’t simply hook onto existing lines, and that, of course, multiplies the cost of the transmission lines needed for renewable plants.

Regardless, it is a certainty that the cost of the new lines will be shocking. One report from electric grid operators that came out a few weeks ago said the cost to build new transmission lines nationwide for wind power will be $100 billion. Add that to the more than $700 billion to build wind farms in the western Great Plains and elsewhere, and you’ve got an amount equal to the big stimulus package signed last week, and that’s just for one renewable energy source. Ratepayers, of course, will get stuck with the bill for that.

Oh, and you know you can count on another thing: lawsuits. Stretching new high-voltage lines across virgin land will mean getting the assent of landowners and various authorities. That will create quibbles about compensation, which, in turn, will cause delays and legal expenses – and add to the cost of building the transmission lines.

.....

Environmentalists like to say that with renewable energy, the fuel is free. That’s true, except that with almost anything free, there are plenty of costs.

[ketelone]

I have no quibble with renewable energy per se. If it works to rid the country of its dependance on Saudi Arabian gas and oil, Im not left with the sneaking suspicion that every time I fill up a tank of regular unleaded, Im contribution a few dollars more towards people who fund people who will kill Americans.

[broncobilly]

I’m no electrical engineer, but I saw one report that said the kind of transmission line needed to carry the variable jolts of juice that come from renewable power plants is different from the line needed to carry uniform current from a traditional generating plant

---

A certain amount of electrical power (volts x current) can, by transformers, be made to be high voltage and low current or high current and low voltage. With high current, there are resistive line losses. So to transmit power over long distances it is better to do it at very high voltage and very low currents. That means building a lot of very high, expensive, transmission line towers.

[Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit]

I’m no electrical engineer, but I saw one report that said

Was it really necessary to keep reading after that? I mean, he doesn't cite the report. It is like saying I heard someone say something about something and then simply because it comes out of his mouth you believe it. I assume you don't believe EVERYTHING you read so I guess you just missed that part while skimming.