Why wind power doesn't work? (The short answer)

To understand why utility scale wind power doesn't work, you have to have a bit of an understanding about how electricity in general works. The electrical system is composed of two parts, generation and delivery. Generation, as the name implies consists of facilities that create electricity from some fuel, whether it is nuclear, fossil fuel, wind or solar. The delivery system consists of all of the wires between the generators and the consumers.

Utility scale electricity is unlike any other commodity. It cannot
be stored and must be created at the instant it is consumed.

Three types of generators.

There are three types of generators as described below:

• Base Load or Always On: These generators are of a type where once they are turned on, generate a consistent amount of electricity over time. These power plants cannot quickly adjust the amount of energy they produce and are typically used to meet the background or constant need for electricity. Nuclear power plants fall into this category.
• Dispatchable: The dispatchable power plant is one whose output can be varied according to demand. The amount of electricity that comes out of a dispatchable plant can be changed fairly quickly, allowing fluctuating needs to be met. Power plants that fit into this category are typically hydro electric, fossil fuel or biomass. Most cogeneration facilities are also dispatchable.
• Non-Dispatchable: These power plants produce electricity according to nobodies schedule. They cannot be brought online and offline as demand dictates so the energy that is produced by this type of power plant must be absorbed into the system willy-nilly. Non-dispatchable power plants include wind ad photo-voltaic (solar panels).

The electric grid companies control the dispatchable generators and set them to produce according to demand.

The problem with wind power

As a non-dipatchable source of energy, wind power is the least reliable. If photo-voltaic cells are placed in the desert, there is a fairly high certainty that on any given day, if the weather is clear, the solar panels will be generating electricity consistently for a period of time. The output of wind turbines is dependant on the wind speed so varies minute by minute - especially with projects such as the one in Westfield and Ripley where the average wind speed is just enough for most wind turbines to start generating. A wind turbine that produces any amount of electricity 30% of the time is considered a good producer and wind turbines don't produce electricity at the times when demand for electricity is highest - hot summer days and cold winter nights. Typically, there is little if any wind at these times. The unreliability of wind power poses the following problems:

1. The reliability issue of wind turbines means that other plants have to be kept in what is called Spinning Reserve. What this means is that other power plants have to continue operating and burning fuel even though they may not be producing any electricity. Not one power plant has been decommissioned as a result of wind power installations - ANYWHERE. Plants in spinning reserve consure almost as much fuel as when they are operating since steam pressure must be maintained at a level to cover the entire production of wind plants.
   
2. Wind turbines come on line whenever the wind blows strong enough. The variability of the amount of energy produced means that the grid providers have to continually adjust dispatchable power plants up and down. This constant variation of supply reduces the reliability of the electrical grid since it is more difficult for grid providers to determing supply at any given time. Further, wind turbines, to some extent, control the grid providers rather than the other way around.
   
3. Cycling steam plants causes them to run less efficiently and creates thermal stress in the plant. Wind power increases the cycling required at steam plants. This reduces the service life of a steam plant and causes more fuel to be burnt by that plant per unit of energy produced.
   
4. Construction of more efficient Combined Cycle power plants gets put aside. This is due to the fact that combined cycle plants can't respond as quickly to changes in demand as old style steam plants can. This means that more efficient, cleaner technologies are not being used because they are incompatible with wind power.

It is the inability to store electricity at utility scale that causes these problems. Does that mean that all wind power doesn't work? The answer to that question is NO. Small scale residential wind power works very well because on a small scale, electricity can be stored in batteries. It doesn't take a lot of batteries to keep a home basically functioning. Storage means that the wind doesn't have to be blowing at the time the power is consumed- only that the wind blows enough over time to keep the batteries charged.