Industrial wind farms

[gunnss]

I run a power plant for the FAA,
I hate wind mills. every time the wind picks up a knot or two we get a power surge, when the wind drops a knot or two we get a power sag. This affect the power grid like some one pounding on the grid with a nuke, I spend enormous amounts of time compensating for power fluctuations. The wind farms are unwilling to spend the billions needed to smooth out the power, putting that onus on the grid, but the grid is just wires hooking up power systems. Switching farms cause problems power fluctuations make it worse.

Perhaps the best wind system is the solar tower http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_updraft_tower

And for nukes, the pebble bed reactor, like the ones being shipped to Finland
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebble_bed_reactor

Yeah I know they are "Wikis" but the supporting links are interesting.

Regards,
Kevin

[Angus]

For the same reason, I'd use my own wind mill to heat the boiler. Basically my theory that wind mills could contribute the most (for the beginning) by lifting some weight from the grid instead of adding to it. The fluctuations are too great. However, the equipment to level out the "swings" has been getting better.

[gunnss]

Unfortunately that equipment is expensive, in my plant it runs about two million a megawatt. No one wants to pay that bill, which leaves the grid unstable. I see it every day.

Regards,
Kevin

[ridley1]

Let's see....wind power capacity in Ontario is 1,100 Mw.

right now It's producing 56Mw.  that's 5.1% capacity.

Am I the only one that thinks this technology is retarded?

[oakranger]

Let's see....wind power capacity in Ontario is 1,100 Mw.

right now It's producing 56Mw.  that's 5.1% capacity.

Am I the only one that thinks this technology is retarded?

Depends what technology are you talking about. 

[oboe]

Let's see....wind power capacity in Ontario is 1,100 Mw.

right now It's producing 56Mw.  that's 5.1% capacity.

Am I the only one that thinks this technology is retarded?

I think you need more datapoints before condemning an entire technology.   There can be reasons for the discrepancy that you're unaware of.

For example, sometimes on windy days, our turbines are shut down remotely by the wind farm owners(production curtailment).   It has nothing to do with the machines ability to produce power that day but is a ownership decision based on spot-pricing of power and grid management issues.   It irks me alot, because it skews our production numbers and will cause people to draw incorrect conclusions from the numbers.

We've also been down on windy days due to work on the grid substations.   Same idea, not the turbine's fault at all.   It makes me doubt the saying "numbers don't lie".   

Just saying its complicated.

[Angus]

How much does a home owner in the USA have to pay for a KWh ?
Roughly?
Very interested in suburbs and rural.

[sluggish]

How much does a home owner in the USA have to pay for a KWh ?
Roughly?
Very interested in suburbs and rural.

Handy table of info you requested...

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table5_6_a.html

[soda72]

Everythings big in Texas...

Texas 11.81 13.15 9.47 10.66 6.82 8.21 9.93 9.89 9.64 10.85

 

[Angus]

Wholy cow, this is more expensive than in Iceland rural! (We pay a lot more than the people in the capital, however they are more numerous and decide the price ). My bill is about 9 cents per KW.
In my case, we have our hot water via a boiler. Takes 2KW and contains 300 liters. Since we run a guesthouse, and normally have a reasonably big household, the boiler is practically always on for a good part of the day, then it rests a bit. ( avg 17 showers taken each day, + dish-washing etc) .So, I have a good reason to belive, that if the boiler was bigger, or just 2 of them, I could heat it with a windmill. Lookie here:

This little cutie (link http://www.kleinwindanlagen.de/html/inclin_3000.html) will give me a KW at only 5 m/s which is the average wind where I live. It might do and the price is 5.000 Euros (6666 $ today). Avg. performance would be 24x365=8460, in my price close to 800 USD (in your price more), so almost 1/8 of the investment in one year.
Actually our average wind is not the best figure, it's more shifting between calm and breezy, which indicates according to the power curve, that the output could be slightly more.
The only problem remaining is interest rates, since they would suck up the profit. Evil, aren't they....