3 ms·

I'm not currently aware of any wind turbines in the UK being powered down due to lack of demand, so the 30% capacity factor is exclusively due to lack of supply

I'm not currently aware of any wind turbines in the UK being powered down due to lack of demand, so the 30% capacity factor is exclusively due to lack of supply, i.e. no wind to turn the turbines. It's definitely worth looking at with another 3x wind capacity or so.

pydry 5y ago
We should probably be building more pumped water storage now in anticipation of wind cracking 100% of demand. There's coire glas being built already but we'll need more, and it takes about 2x as long to build as a wind farm does.
Gwypaas 5y ago
The latest ~15 MW off-shore monsters are up to capacity factors of 60-64% now. https://www.ge.com/renewableenergy/wind-energy/offshore-wind/haliade-x-offshore-turbine https://www.ge.com/renewableenergy/wind-energy/offshore-wind... https://www.vestas.com/en/products/offshore/V236-15MW https://www.vestas.com/en/products/offshore/V236-15MW
- yodelshady 5y ago
  I... put politely, don't understand how manufacturers can make that claim, it depends on exogenous factors. That said, you're right, the newest turbines are impressive structures and more consistent at their job. Also that said, andy_ppp is right, or will be soon. If you want to make a dent in our fossil fuel needs on a cold windless day, you'll have giant globs of excess energy on warm windy days, that is simply orders of magnitude more than any practically-costed battery can store. At that point, who cares if electrolysis is only 30% efficient?
  - Gwypaas 5y ago
    Your margins care, since those are a factor of installation cost, marginal cost and energy lost due to round trip efficiency. That 70% loss defines the lowest possible price difference between buy cheap power and sell expensive. Therefore any other smart consumer or storage has that margin to work against, to compete you out of the market. This is why batteries can work, in some cases. But it is a pure inefficiency that will find a minimum equilibrium.
  - VBprogrammer 5y ago
    For your understanding, capacity factor is one of the parameters which is under the control of the turbine designer. If you connect up a huge 200m turbine to a little 3kw generator you can get a practically 100% capacity factor but obviously it's not an optimal strategy given the costs.

pydry 5y ago

We should probably be building more pumped water storage now in anticipation of wind cracking 100% of demand. There's coire glas being built already but we'll need more, and it takes about 2x as long to build as a wind farm does.

Gwypaas 5y ago

The latest ~15 MW off-shore monsters are up to capacity factors of 60-64% now. https://www.ge.com/renewableenergy/wind-energy/offshore-wind/haliade-x-offshore-turbine https://www.ge.com/renewableenergy/wind-energy/offshore-wind... https://www.vestas.com/en/products/offshore/V236-15MW https://www.vestas.com/en/products/offshore/V236-15MW

yodelshady 5y ago
I... put politely, don't understand how manufacturers can make that claim, it depends on exogenous factors. That said, you're right, the newest turbines are impressive structures and more consistent at their job. Also that said, andy_ppp is right, or will be soon. If you want to make a dent in our fossil fuel needs on a cold windless day, you'll have giant globs of excess energy on warm windy days, that is simply orders of magnitude more than any practically-costed battery can store. At that point, who cares if electrolysis is only 30% efficient?
- Gwypaas 5y ago
  Your margins care, since those are a factor of installation cost, marginal cost and energy lost due to round trip efficiency. That 70% loss defines the lowest possible price difference between buy cheap power and sell expensive. Therefore any other smart consumer or storage has that margin to work against, to compete you out of the market. This is why batteries can work, in some cases. But it is a pure inefficiency that will find a minimum equilibrium.
- VBprogrammer 5y ago
  For your understanding, capacity factor is one of the parameters which is under the control of the turbine designer. If you connect up a huge 200m turbine to a little 3kw generator you can get a practically 100% capacity factor but obviously it's not an optimal strategy given the costs.