Originally Posted by Dave Ridge
That would depend on government pressure and support (£) for the renewables, wheather they are whole life environmetally friendly or not.
I remember reading an article in an environmetal magazine (not available in shops), that one of the scandinavian countries had taken down several wind farms that were erected 10 yrs or so ago due the the ineffectiveness and unreliability.
It's is a fact that the coldest days of the year usually fall when there is little or NO wind. Maximum power requirement by the nation and NO generation by wind turbines, just doesn't make sense to me.
Don't get me wrong i'm all for saving the planet,
but selection of the correct technologies to do it. Eg tidal, can't see a day when the tide will decide not to come in or out.
Dave, we will never run our network on 100% wind turbines and wind is only part of the wider renewable generation levels we are aiming for, for the exact reason you mentioned.
We also have spare capacity for maximum demand, circa 120% of MD on a good winter. We also have the largest coal fired power station in Europe, Drax, which has actually coverted to Biomass so this shows the mix in large scale renewable technology.
10years is a long time ago in wind technology advancement. I'm not suprised they took them down. Early turbines were plagued with gearbox issues.
I too hope they get some good pilot project results on the tidal stuff as this all adds to the pot. I know there's a big one they'd like to do in the Severn Estuary.