Posted on 09/05/2017 8:43:41 PM PDT by BBell
For the first time in the history of the burgeoning U.S. wind industry, a wind farm got hit by a hurricane—and it was back producing power within days.
Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of more than 130 miles an hour a week ago Friday about 20 miles from the Papalote Creek Wind Farm near Corpus Christi, Texas.
One section of the onshore wind farm was producing electricity on Thursday and the other was expected to be back online on Friday, according to its owner, German power company E.ON SE .
“Papalote actually survived really well,” said Patrick Woodson, chairman of E.ON’s North American operations. The delay in restarting was mostly because the power lines were damaged, he said.
Weather gauges suggest the wind farm didn’t take the brunt of the storm: they recorded sustained winds of 90 miles an hour, or the equivalent of a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
The wind farm has a total of 196 turbines and can generate 380 megawatts, making it a fairly large power generator. The turbines were made by Vestas Wind Systems A/S and Siemens AG .
The storm was the first major test of how U.S. wind-power installations, which now provide roughly 6% of the nation’s electricity, hold up in hurricane-force winds.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
“a wind farm got hit by a hurricane—and it was back producing power within days. “
Shut down? That was a prime time to produce lots of power.
Enough to power a DeLorean time machine even.
Wonder how much fedgov and TX taxpayer money is going into German bank accounts here.
For the first time in the history of the burgeoning U.S. wind industry, a wind farm got hit by a hurricane—and it was back producing power within days.
Subhead: Journalist takes time out to brag about a wind plant that had to shut down for wind.
Sub-subhead: Trump’s fault
(It’s not a “farm” dips$@&s)
So what?! Did its return to producing power make any critical difference to the consumer?
The article went on and on about how robust the wind farm equipment was. It said nothing about its worth as a provider of a critical commodity, electricity. As far as I can tell from the article, the return of this wind farm to production is as important as returning a buggy whip factory to production.
Wind is part of a logical energy generation mix. It’s no longer necessary to support wind with tax credits, which were extended by the Republican congress, but should be allowed to expire. The industry already was prepared, but who turns away free money?
Windmills that needed to be shut down because of strong wind.
Hahahahahahaha.
They’re greatttttt!
“its owner, German power company E.ON SE .”
I’m so proud that we USA taxpayers can give large subsidies to German companies. It helps to feed all those starving children in Germany!
This was not a real test for a wind farm’s ability to function since Harvey’s winds were in category one, tropical storm level. Let’s see how they fare with a CAT 5. Then I will become a believer.
Will the Germans issue a special press release when a half-dozen of their wind generators fly apart next week? I think the answer to that question is a resounding — NEIN!
If a windmill still has a decommissioning fund after it has outlived it’s ability to produce more electricity than it uses, it’s a success. So far, non have done that well, but many broken ones are still standing...
Cue the awesome video of the giant wind turbine flying apart in flames. It was a great video!
Here’s one of catastrophic failure with fire; it warms the cockles of my heart.
Wait: can I say cockles?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfzgIxMEo8g
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