Wind turbines just can’t deal with our needs during winter
www.thisisdevon.co.uk 12 February 2011
Those wonderful, terribly expensive, non productive wind machines have recently hit the headlines once more.
Indeed what a fiasco, and we have proved all to be so gullible, as more and more of these monstrosities are set to obscure our beautiful countryside.
It does seem so ridiculous that we accept wind farms and their wailing arms and continuous whirr, and yet so many condemn waste disposal by incinerator and perhaps one single chimney (which,now simply puffs away).
It is possible to generate more energy in a week from incinerated waste, than a wind turbine in 12 months.
These magnificent men and their turbine machines cost us billions of pounds and most of this goes to continental manufacturers.
Maybe some are under the impression that the benefits are long term, have we that much time to hang around.
Judging by the last few months it would seem we are already in considerable trouble having produced next door to nothing.
Providing one base would build a good size house, or go a long way towards it.
We are now advised by independent observers, that they just do not work (precisely as suspected all along).
May I draw attention to just two recently reported incidents concerning wind turbines.
Over the past months, with demand for at record levels because of freezing weather, there have been days when the contribution to the National Grid from our mass of wind turbines has been precisely nothing.
Even on the rare good days such as a few days ago, the figure was just 1.6 per cent according to the wholesale electricity market.
Here is where it gets even better when temperatures plummet, the turbines have to be heated, yes heated to prevent them seizing up.
Ultimately they then consume more electricity than they generate.
In particularly high winds they have to be switched off for fear of overheating.
Finally there is no way of storing the electricity generated.
The government we are told plan to erect 12,500 of these monstrosities and some will be up to three times the size of the present structures.
Imported from Denmark a wind turbine 82ft tall with a 42ft blade, 11 kilowatt turbine (imagine that next door) it costs several thousand pounds to buy and erect, the savings if any, could take a life time to recoup.
The coalition government has just signed up to a whole lot more green energy, but they are not particularly worried because by the time these things happen they will be long gone.
Gala Wind, the Danish firm who make these giant turbines insist the noise level never rises above 88 decibels.
Indeed, when the wind does get going, so then does the noise – a low grumbling, combined with a clicking as the blade turns with the wind direction.
Finally when these turbines turn out to be useless, they will be abandoned as rusty hulks sitting in the middle of fields, and which had also cost us a fortune.
Is it any wonder we are broke?
DAVE GRYLLS
Wolverton Drive
Kingsteignton
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/02/12/wind-turbines-just-cant-deal-with-our-needs-during-winter/