[Uncledave]

Really stupid headline which buries the lead. The headline should be "Widely Distributed Wind Turbines Mitigate Intermittancy Issues"

Large-scale wind developers are seeing this, such as FPL which owns and operates thousands of wind turbines around the country. Between the geographic dispersion and modern wind forecasting techniques, they're able to predict total wind energy output across their portfolio remarkably accurately. More wind turbines only reduces intermittency risk.

[Uncledave]

Renewable Energy Ping

Please Freep Mail me if you'd like on/off

[TMSuchman]

How about setting up your own home wind turbine to make yourself more self relient?

I am planning to start next spring to set up our own system, and with solar as well, to become more self relient & tell my local electric co. to shove off!

Every time I turn around they keep raising my rates, for various reasons, and I hate that!

[Young Werther]

The 1996 130th anniversary issue of Scientific American contained an updated wind audit for considering windpower as an alternative source of electricity. The Plains States from North Dakota to Texas have sufficent wind energy to produce 245% of the US's needs.

A series of transmission lines connecting all these states would mean that the wind only had to be blowing against 40% of these windmills at any time to meet 100% of the elctrical needs.

Since the Texas power grid is connected to both the East and West Power grid electricity generated in Nebraska can be sent to Maine, Florida, Oregon or California!!!

Excess electricity could be stored in batteries, (a Michigan Utility pumps water uphill into a storage lake and when more electrity is needed the floodgates are opened, water runs down hill and the pumps polarity is changed and they generate electricity.), a battery stores energy and kinetic energy can be stored by pumping it up jill to become potential energy.

Wind Power

[kittymyrib]

“...wind is intermittent,”

...except on the High Plains of Texas, where it is pretty well constant. The use of windmills for power generation there and the next huge wind farm planned along the coast of Texas will prove to be almost as profitable as the oil/gas business has been.

[RightWhale]

If the wind farms are on the grids and the grids are already interconnected wouldn’t this be an already accomplished task?

[G Larry]

How to make a lost cause look better.

‘Lipstick on a Pig’ comes to mind.

[thinking]

I hate to throw water on this theory but, all wind farms are connected to the National Grid, and are synchronized to all power generators on the grid nation-wide....this a basic principle of AC power generation....hence the weakness of wind generation....there has to be a fossil fuel generator, waiting on line/grid, to supply power when the wind is not available, otherwise there would be burn-outs, or simply, no AC power...

[Mikey_1962]

"Widely Distributed Wind Turbines Mitigate Intermittancy Issues"

True and the "Mega-Scale" farms are coming...GE alone has orders for 4,500 turbine in 2010 right now!

[VOA]

Connecting Wind Farms Can Make A More Reliable And Cheaper Power Source

Won't happen if the "Bird Holocaust" environmentalists have their
way. Because there won't be that many windfarms to connect!