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Politics : Politics of Energy -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Eric who wrote (11903)	7/31/2009 3:27:38 PM
From: Hawkmoon	2 Recommendations Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 86352

No.. YOU don't get it. Read this excerpt from the article again: In the space of one hour last month, electricity generated at wind farms in the eastern end of the Columbia River Gorge shot up by 1,000 megawatts – enough to power some 680,000 homes. Less than an hour later, it plummeted almost as much. Sitting in front of 10 computer screens in a fifth-floor room of the federal Bonneville Power Administration headquarters in Portland, Kim Randolph had to react quickly. Working from a keyboard, she diverted millions of gallons of water away from massive turbines spinning in Columbia River dams and sent it around the dams. The 17-year veteran power operations specialist remembers how fast she needed to work as a wind storm caused generation to peak and fall three times over eight hours. The article is about the difficulty for grid operators in integrating and managing wind in the grid. But here is the part that slides by — despite the electricity it is putting in the grid, wind is contributing…nothing. Note that when wind production is surging, the utility is sending water around the turbines of the dam. That lost potential energy is gone forever. All the wind power did in this case is substitute for clean hydro power. It has no value in this particular case (beyond the ability of the utility to put wind on its annual report and seek subsidies from the Obama administration). Now tell me.. When does a hydro dam face a situation where it goes from max generation to almost nothing within the space of a few hours? That's the POINT!! It's like what happened in Texas last year. Wind Power is seemingly very sexy and eco, until the blades stop turning and you're suddenly trying to find the power to make up the deficit. That's no way to grow an economy. Hawk