MORE WIND TURBINES CAUSE CHAOS
The problem for Western Denmark lies in balancing the supply of electricity with demand.

An important article "Flere Vindmøller Skaber Kaos" by Niels Sandøe was published in the Danish newspaper, Jyllands Posten, on 4th June 2003, and is highly commended. The title of this article can be translated to “More Wind Turbines Cause Chaos”, which gives a pretty good idea of the trouble being caused by intermittent wind power in that country!

The problem for Western Denmark lies in balancing the supply of electricity with demand. Electrical power supplied must balance the power demand plus transmission losses at every second of the day. If this balance is not achieved there will be an automatic disconnection of either supply (to prevent physical damage to generating plant) or of loads (blackouts). Conventional plants have to be run in conjunction with the unpredictable wind generators and their output varied in order to provide a cushioning effect.

When large changes in wind power occur beyond the capability of such conventional plant to compensate, then the assistance of neighbouring systems has been called upon. In windy conditions the surplus of Danish wind power has to be dumped somehow. Help is secured from Germany, Sweden or Norway who accommodate Denmark by accepting low or zero priced electrical energy. Unfortunately it appears that Germany has, at times, the same problem as Denmark because of its own wind turbine concentration in the same region. Hence the frequent big falls in price. Both countries need to get rid of their uncontrollable excess of wind electricity at whatever price they can get!

When the supply of electricity from wind, coal and gas generators is suddenly reduced by a deficiency of wind, the coal and gas fired generator companies must be on-line to take up the demand, and for this service they charge a premium.

The whole system is crazy, and can only operate because Denmark has neighbours who have been only too willing to receive cheap electricity, and because the previous "green" government was willing to support the vast costs involved! The present Danish government is trying to sort out the mess!

The above-mentioned Danish article absolutely supports the message that the Royal Academy of Engineering has been trying, in vain it would seem, to put across to our government. The Institution of Electrical Engineers and the Institution of Chemical Engineers have also been forecasting an energy crisis and potential blackouts if their warnings go unheeded.

Unless the UK learns from the Danish experience we shall be landed with a far greater problem than that of Western Denmark. Comparatively, the UK has very limited options for disposing of surplus electricity, and the more intermittent wind power we use in the UK, the more fossil fuel is needed for back-up: this has to be constantly available and inevitably increases CO2 emissions.

Is it credible that the UK government is going to ignore the Danish lesson which has now been spelt out in the clearest terms possible?

In the light of this irrefutable evidence it is of the utmost importance that our decision-makers are made aware of the potential havoc that could be wreaked with our electricity supply if the proliferation of commercial wind power stations is allowed to continue apace. Further information is available in the article “Danish Lessons” which can be downloaded from:- Country Guardian and:- Views of Scotland

No doubt the land-wreckers will, once more, try to plaster over the cracks in their spurious ‘green’ arguments as they writhe in their relentless efforts to dump their hardware on our beautiful land. It beggars belief.

Angela Kelly
Chairman, Country Guardian

PS. One eminent engineer who received the above information replied thus:- “A very good analysis of the problem of wind power. Next week we are sailing on a modern "wind jammer", with 20,000 square metres of sail. It will sail at 12 knots under ideal wind conditions, but it also has two diesel engines which will drive it along at 14 knots when the wind is not blowing or in the wrong direction. In other words it needs 100% back up if it is to operate properly and keep to its schedule.”

>> Autor: Mark Duchamp (26/10/2003)
>> Fuente: Angela Kelly Chairman, Country Guardian

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