ON February 9 there were celebrations because UK wind generation reached 2 GW or 2000 MW.
This is only the tip of the iceberg. The 2 GW figure is installed capacity, that is the rating of the turbines and is a theoretical output that would require the wind to blow at the optimum speed for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Wind turbines generate power on an intermittent basis due to the vagaries of the wind resource and in the UK the average output is 28.4%, although some wind turbines return as little as 8%.
So in reality there were celebrations because UK wind generation, that is ALL the wind turbines in the UK - both offshore and onshore, reached 568 MW (using the 28.4% figure) or equivalent to less than half of a nuclear power station and all without replacing any existing power plants. Is this really going to save the planet?
Thank you, Sue Jones Knighton Grange Burton Bridgwater
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