Scotland's wind farms 'often able only to boil 6,667 kettles'

scotsman.com ^ | 7 Apr 2011 | John Ross

[Army Air Corps]

Ping.

[Mr. Silverback]

Bump!

[who_would_fardels_bear]

They need to cover the wind turbines with arrays of OLEDs and miniature cameras so they can make them appear invisible so as not to destroy the mountain views.

The power they generate should be just enough to keep the OLEDs and cameras operational.

[sydneysider]

This article does not make sense. 1 MW of power is sufficient to power approximately 1,000 U.S.homes. So 20MW is enough for 20,000 homes, not a small bunch of steaming kettles.

[Two Kids' Dad]

Any idea if they’re using the traditional type of wind turbines or if any are vertical axis? I’ve done a bit of reading on the VAWTs and they seem to be more efficient and have a smaller footprint than the regular turbines.

Yes, I know that wind power isn’t the answer to our energy needs, but new and improved wind generation can be a viable way to supplement our energy needs at times.

A vertical axis turbine with arcing blades curving 90 degrees over the full height of each blade and having a concave similar to a sail’s shape would be a big improvement over the stupid propeller blades like they have in the desert near Palm Springs.

[larry hagedon]

How do those numbers compare with the nuclear power plants in Japan that are down for good?

The fastest way Japan has of getting back to minimum electrical production to power the nation is with windmills.

While the naysayers criticize, the smart money is building bigger and better windmills all over the world.

[screaminsunshine]

THe small ones are good combined with solar panels if you are in a windy sunny place.

[Perdogg]

I guess it takes 300W to boil a kettle. 300 kW X 6667 = 20,000 kW X (1 MW/1000 kW)or 20 MW.

The problem with wind is that it is operating when people don’t the power, in the middle of the night.

[smokingfrog]

The windmills were supposed to produce about 20MW, but actually produce less than a third of that.

Plus, they drink a lot of tea. ;-)

[Perdogg]

Solar is okay, but the problem with solar is shade, cost, and lack of a payback even with a 30% tax credit.

[IrishCatholic]

Sincere question:
Why is the smart money on an industry that can never generate more than 25% of your energy needs, is unreliable as it only works when the wind blows, and from everything published here only is built in the first place with massive subsidies and continued financial support? When did it become economically competitive with existing sources?

I’d like to know. Maybe what I have read is out of date.

[fso301]

20MW of energy - just enough power for 6,667 households to boil their kettles.

20MW/6,667 kettles = 3KW/kettle

3KW per kettle seems way too high.

[Perdogg]

sorry that was 3 kW X 6667 = 20,000 kW or 20 MW

[smokingfrog]

The "blender blades" chop the birds into smaller pieces too!

[Army Air Corps]

The article notes that the wind turbines fell short of the 20MW goal.

[screaminsunshine]

The problem is hassling with the batteries.

[Perdogg]

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/blogs/boerderij_kabouter/547-how-many-watts-do-you-need-my-boil-kettle-hot-liquor-tun-math-involved.html

[Doe Eyes]

The problem with wind is that it is operating when people don’t the power, in the middle of the night.

Best time to recharge electricc car batteries.

[Army Air Corps]

The article notes that that the turbines fell short of the goal of 20MW of generation:
...all the wind turbines in Scotland linked to the National Grid produce less than 20MW of energy...

Granted, the article does not state plainly just how much power the turbines did generate during the period of the study.