The scam continues: Why wind turbines are being re-powered at 10-years

[Revving2Redline]

I didn't say that, I just think there are better choices than those turbines.

You got to swipe this with a wider stroke of the brush there and say I think everything's better than those turbines. Just remember they take up a lot of space and I have seen them spend way too fast and just completely implode. This is not something that's very well thought out and it surely not very competent of a technology. It like everything else looks good on pen and paper which I admire but some things need to stay on pen and paper.
Onto a side note because I have a lot of attention deficit disorder which I'm sure many of you have picked up on since I've been here since like 2012 is that I think you're going to see more success from either synthetic fuels or natural gas and other things. I used to see signs out north of wamego and a lot of people don't want those windmills out there. They kill birds and they destroy a lot of pretty countryside that doesn't have anything in it. It's still nice to live somewhere where we can look outside and not see a shopping mall or a quick shop at every corner.

 

[missingcurlybracket]

I’m not sure what you mean.

One would think a greenie wouldn’t want wildlife to be destroyed in the process. Pipelines were said to disrupt the mating cycle of a moose or caribou or something like that. I’m failing to see the difference aside from the obvious being one is oil and the other is renewable. One will get drummed up while the other won’t get any coverage.

Wildlife not being harmed today is nice and all but the status quo is also not a place we can sit tight in. Immediate deaths are one thing, but so are longer-term negative effects from burning things for energy.

I'm just a layman but my pipeline concern would be what land you wreck while building it, leakage and effects there (water, wildlife, etc.) and a general pessimistic opinion on private/for-profit ownership putting the pipeline's integrity/upkeep above profit like the railroads that have been making the news lately. I don't know squat about animal mating out there but I'm sure it's come up.

 

[dlundblad]

Wildlife not being harmed today is nice and all but the status quo is also not a place we can sit tight in. Immediate deaths are one thing, but so are longer-term negative effects from burning things for energy.

I'm just a layman but my pipeline concern would be what land you wreck while building it, leakage and effects there (water, wildlife, etc.) and a general pessimistic opinion on private/for-profit ownership putting the pipeline's integrity/upkeep above profit like the railroads that have been making the news lately. I don't know squat about animal mating out there but I'm sure it's come up.

Some disruption in animal behavior was a major concern for pipelines. Leaking was another factor, but then again we were told trains were safer too. Just ask the people of eastern Ohio.

My original comment still stands. I’m just surprised nobody pro wind seems to care.

 

[Revving2Redline]

We had an extensive conversation about the Texas Blackout after it happened and there's a whole thread on it. My main contributions to it start here:

THIS is Texas? 6º F

Maybe that should become the standard, make every industry responsible for it's entire waste stream. Unless voters died because of this, don't think they will remember to do it after a few weeks... The cost of being prepared is high. Heck, I don't like paying insurance. I just hope our...

bobistheoilguy.com

BTW, the lowest nuclear dropped was 75% of installed capacity because STP-1 went down briefly due to a sensor line freezing. It was the highest capacity factor source of any of them by a wide margin all through the event.

You are a smart dude. Sometimes I scratch my head and just think how some of you retain all this information. Although I look back on it and tell myself I just have to run my race and do what I can do well and not worry what everybody else is doing.

 

[silveravant]

This reminds me of the expensive maintenance schedules some German automakers have on their automobiles.

Yea, like 10,000 mile oil changes. Scheduled maintenance on my Audi and VW is very cheap.

 

[OVERKILL]

I see your blurb about wind being unreliable in that post, I don't follow when it's generally understood and compensated for that wind isn't a constant. (Another "but sometimes!" problem.)

I wouldn't blame the electric half of a PHEV for being unable to drive 150 miles on a single charge if the gas engine failed after all.

But given it's largely unique to Texas we're probably splitting hairs over what's more a regulatory problem, I'm being sensitive after that "it's all 'green' energy's fault!" narrative pushed by some outlets at the time.

I made many posts in that thread distilling out the overarching issue which is a combination of the fragile pairing of wind and gas during severe weather due to the JIT delivery infrastructure gas relies on and the market system in place that doesn't reward constituents for maintaining adequate reliable reserve capacity.

When you have multiple sources that aren't expected to show up during emergent events that then don't, and the sources you DO rely on and their supporting infrastructure isn't sufficiently hardened or adequately maintained because there lacks sufficient monies in the environment to be conducive to that, and the regulatory framework doesn't enforce it, the results are quite predictable.

I find it odd that people are apologetic or even oddly bombastic ("wind performed even BETTER than expected! HA!" despite showing up at only 13% of nameplate) for wind not showing up because it's not expected to during extreme events, and doesn't, so that this somehow means it's wrong to draw attention to that fact when people are pushing for more of it, like this is not a glaring deficiency in need of consideration.

 

[OVERKILL]

Were Frozen Wind Turbines in Texas a Major Factor in Power Outages?

Millions of Texans went without heat and electricity as February 2021 snow and an ill-prepared infrastructure resulted in power outages.

www.snopes.com

"Half of the wind turbines did go offline, but power loss from that source was a mere fraction compared to the losses from natural gas, coal, and nuclear sources."

Correct, because only about 7,000MW of 28,000MW of wind was expected to show up and 3,153MW did, while basically ALL 51,000MW of gas generation was supposed to show up but only 32,000 did (minimum was ~27,000MW).

 

[Inspecktor]

Xcel is trying to get approval for a additional fee paid by residential users so they can build out car charging stations around the state they will retain and operate.

 

[OVERKILL]

Xcel is trying to get approval for a additional fee paid by residential users so they can build out car charging stations around the state they will retain and operate.

And then they'll make money on of course.

 

[demarpaint]

You got to swipe this with a wider stroke of the brush there and say I think everything's better than those turbines. Just remember they take up a lot of space and I have seen them spend way too fast and just completely implode. This is not something that's very well thought out and it surely not very competent of a technology. It like everything else looks good on pen and paper which I admire but some things need to stay on pen and paper.
Onto a side note because I have a lot of attention deficit disorder which I'm sure many of you have picked up on since I've been here since like 2012 is that I think you're going to see more success from either synthetic fuels or natural gas and other things. I used to see signs out north of wamego and a lot of people don't want those windmills out there. They kill birds and they destroy a lot of pretty countryside that doesn't have anything in it. It's still nice to live somewhere where we can look outside and not see a shopping mall or a quick shop at every corner.

I agree 100%.

 

[Ws6]

I hope a planetkiller meteor is what finally does it. Just to spite literally almost everyone.

 

[Inspecktor]

And then they'll make money on of course.

And the residential ratepayers won't.

 

[Trav]

And the residential ratepayers won't.

I dont know about other parts of the US but here when the electric bill comes the first words are "Dear customer bend over".

 

[demarpaint]

I dont know about other parts of the US but here when the electric bill comes the first words are "Dear customer bend over".

Yea they should send a small packet of Dielectric grease with the bill.

 

[LenZee]

You got to swipe this with a wider stroke of the brush there and say I think everything's better than those turbines. Just remember they take up a lot of space and I have seen them spend way too fast and just completely implode. This is not something that's very well thought out and it surely not very competent of a technology. It like everything else looks good on pen and paper which I admire but some things need to stay on pen and paper.
Onto a side note because I have a lot of attention deficit disorder which I'm sure many of you have picked up on since I've been here since like 2012 is that I think you're going to see more success from either synthetic fuels or natural gas and other things. I used to see signs out north of wamego and a lot of people don't want those windmills out there. They kill birds and they destroy a lot of pretty countryside that doesn't have anything in it. It's still nice to live somewhere where we can look outside and not see a shopping mall or a quick shop at every corner.

How Harmful is Renewable Energy to Birds? | Article | EESI

www.eesi.org

"According to the data, while solar is estimated to cause 1,000 to 28,000 bird deaths annually, and wind 140,000 to 328,000, coal kills far more – about 7.9 million birds a year!"

 

[4WD]

Correct, because only about 7,000MW of 28,000MW of wind was expected to show up and 3,153MW did, while basically ALL 51,000MW of gas generation was supposed to show up but only 32,000 did (minimum was ~27,000MW).

At the end of an RCA - we look at equipment and people/process. The new buzz is “human performance” …
On that front - one of the unexpected problems the GTG operators faced was the facilities supplying them NG got “blacked out” in load shedding … so those people/process components got reworked …

 

[MolaKule]

I'm saying the overall impact of these sorts of subsidy schemes is ultimately higher rates, which California is good example of.

A prime example is our R.E.A. coop who purchase their electricity from CIPCO who gets energy from the Wind grid; our rates went up 9% this year!

Where is this magical savings we were supposed to receive from the Wind?

 

[missingcurlybracket]

A prime example is our R.E.A. coop who purchase their electricity from CIPCO who gets energy from the Wind grid; our rates went up 9% this year!

Where is this magical savings we were supposed to receive from the Wind?

I’m not sure I ever heard of wind being billed as being cheaper, just cleaner, another tool in the box without burning something. Was the switchover just this year? I’d sooner expect inflation or “inflation” - or something else upstream. Maintenance?

 

[brianl703]

Xcel is trying to get approval for a additional fee paid by residential users so they can build out car charging stations around the state they will retain and operate.

Another reason why I'm glad my electric utility is a cooperative. They don't do that sort of thing, and as far as I know, they aren't allowed to.

 

[MolaKule]

How Harmful is Renewable Energy to Birds? | Article | EESI

www.eesi.org

"According to the data, while solar is estimated to cause 1,000 to 28,000 bird deaths annually, and wind 140,000 to 328,000, coal kills far more – about 7.9 million birds a year!"

Is that last figure an estimate or was there some scientific, biological data to support it? Were birds examined by an ornithological pathologist? I would like to examine any papers related to that topic, because I have seen the claim made on the internet but no real data.