There’s a small array of windmills in Somerset, PA, right along the turnpike.
OK, there’s one windmill that actually turns and about six more white towers with wings that remain still in even the strongest wind.
What an absolute waste
I used to go by there all the time. There was never more than two turbines running at the same time. The wind blows constantly there. If one turbine could run, they could all run. Like you said, "an absolute waste." Worse yet, one way or another (higher electric bills or government subsidies) we paid for those useless turbines.
I saw a TV show just recently. It was Engineering Disasters on the Science Channel. It was about wind turbines in the North Sea off of Denmark. Probably made by Vestas wind systems.
It showed another maintenance issue with wind turbines I had never heard of prior. The leading edge of the blade is constantly impacting at 150 mph small bits of debris in the air(sand, grit, salt, etc) this debris eventually breaks down the leading edge of the gel coat/fiberglass. So, technicians have to repel down the blade and cover the leading edge of the blade with this fabric to keep the blade from breaking apart.