wind power

[chairobyx16]

Must have been asked before but how many wind powered generators would be needed to equal a neuclear or fossil fuel power station? Also is Scots Gov.
plan to run a power line down the east coast a crafty move to borrrow a "cup of dirty power" from Sizewell when the wind drops?

[webdude]

Almost impossible to answer that question for the simple reason that a nuclear power station provides the required power output 24/7 irrespective of the current weather conditions. Any wind farm, no matter where in the world it is located, only provides output for between 20% to 30% of the time.

Why? - when the wind doesn�t blow you don�t generate power, and that is the most fundamental argument against wind power.

[jake-the-peg]

I think the largest wind turbines are about 5MW

Sizewell B is rated at 1195MW so that's 239

But of course as noted above you can't whistle up a storm when demand is high.

Renewables are a very usefull addition but you couldn't run the entire country on them alone

[jake-the-peg]

Oh, I doubt the Scots will be taking power specifically from Sizewell - that's on the Suffolk coast a very long way from Scotland! But they are still connected to the national grid

[MatydaLover]

Wind turbines can never equal a fossil or nuclear power station. Until the problem of electricity storage is solved, even an infinite number of wind turbines would not help if the wind wasn't blowing. (And too much wind means they have to be stopped).

The best that can be done is to assist with generation up to about 20% of the total capacity. Higher than that and the problems of wind fluctuation would make it too unreliable.

The current(!) UK generating capacity is about 84GW. At 2MW per wind turbine (at 100% load factor) that means about 8,400 would be needed to give that assistance. The load factor (when the wind blows) in Germany is about 16% and Denmark it is about 20% ... so realistically we need at least 42,000.

We would still need 80% of our existing fossil and nuclear plants. Given the likely demand and population increases, it's hard to see how any of them could be closed without replacement.

[4candles]

...and the design life of a wind turbine?

25 years.

[Teddio]

Drax Power Station in Yorkshire burns coal and has a power output of approximately 4000 Megawatts. This is a reliable source. Large wind turbines have a power output in the region of 2 Megawatts but only when the wind speed is optimal. Halving the wind speed reduces the power output to one eighth.
It would never be possible to have wind turbines alone, as a reliable source of electrical energy.

[chairobyx16]

Thanks to all, it re inforces my belief that to reject out of hand any power supply ,purely through party dogma is politcally bogus and could leave the U,K. dependant on continental suppliers

[little B]

"Renewables are a very usefull addition but you couldn't run the entire country on them alone "

Put solar, wind, hydro and tidal together, and you've got a pretty strong team...

The problem with most arguements for renewables is they always focus on 1 resource. Yup, wind does not always blow, rivers are sometimes smaller, Britain isn't exactly known for sun, but tides are pretty constant, and I can't really remember when it wasn't raining, wasn't windy, but was completely overcast....

[jake-the-peg]

Little B

Tides are constant but tidal barrages only have peak generation twice a day and you can't control when that is. There are also limited places where they can be built.

Solar energy is impractical in this country wide scale because the cost of cells compared to the electricity the produce limits them to installations where it would be too expensive or impractical to run cables.

Too many people insist that various renewables must be practical or are a strong team without doing the sums. You must do the maths.

There are a lot of ways that renewables can help but even the most promising - the Severn Barrage could only produce 4.4% of the countries demand.