Offshore Atlantic Array wind farm between Swansea and Devon reduced in size

“KristianAmlie

I totally agree with you saying "It is important that the Trolls do not dominate"

Unfortunately the members of the Church of Anthropogenic Global Warming just shout down anyone who disagrees with them. AGW is becoming more and more like a particularly dogmatic religion, complete with the shunning of heretics who dare to question the received faith. They don't disprove other theories, just stick their fingers in their ears and insist they're right.


The link you posted from the European Wind Energy Association (a trade organization),
could be seen as having a somewhat biased view, as they exist solely to promote their members businesses.
Here is the British Wind Energy Association, re-named 'RenewablesUK' ( a yr after being taken to the ASA for misrepresentation !!) - http://tinyurl.com/bsgxzwd

For balance, some anti wind sites see-
http://tinyurl.com/btl5myu
https://http://tinyurl.com/59yzfm
http://tinyurl.com/4srgg5

Both sides have valuable information.

Facts & info are always useful in any discussion so here's a few more sources to start you off.-

The uk currently as a fleet of over 8,400 industrial wind turbines,
They provide just 5% of demand, but in a spasmodic way. (as I write this it's 2.1%)

This site gives Live UK Grid status - demand & generation by all fuels.….. now + Day, Wk, Mth, Yr, history.
Caution *, scales are all different so don't compare at first glance !! Look at the figures !! http://tinyurl.com/6ja8btf

Here is an easy to use, (incomplete) Interactive map of UK wind sites
http://tinyurl.com/cq9vttf
This DECC map is more comprehensive but also incomplete (& not easy to use)
http://tinyurl.com/bqnq85k

For a flavour of CASH generated by windfarms per mth, OFGEM figs (More than 50% is subsidy's.) see- http://tinyurl.com/cgmq86d

Note:-
As at July 2012, UK companies own just –
12% of offshore wind
37% of on land wind.

74% of ALL British Electricity Generating is foreign owned.!!

( See also this List of some (700ish) UK windfarms – includes Generation payments, OFGEM ROC payments + Capacity factors, Outputs, Graphs, Maps. - http://tinyurl.com/akxs7yp )

According to the following info taken from the
Department of Energy & Climate Change ( DECC ) & Grid figs
( Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics ( DUKES)
http://tinyurl.com/n4k7n8 )

See Pages 121, 140, 144, 160, 186

UK annual Capacity or Production factors-
(the % of possible output, that is actually produced)

Coal = 42 %,
Gas = 62 %,
Hydro = 35 %,
Nuclear =61 %,
Pumped storage = 14 %,
Solar = 8 %,

Wind = 27 %,

A few hrs with Google & a calculator can be most enlightening. Enjoy.”

“Hi!
I think it is super that the community is engaging in the discussion about the Atlantic Array establishment. I urge users to contribute with facts and opinions and do so in a constructive and polite way. Please contribute even if you think the comments are too negative or wrong. It is important that the Trolls do not dominate :-) For learning material on wind power http://tinyurl.com/cpc2rgp These are my personal opinions but I do have a personal interest in wind development since my company is providing foundations for offshore wind.”

“will the ospreys be backed these turbines as they seem to have sold their soul to rwe”

“Maggie - a couple of things.

1. The weather at a height of 100m plus off the ground? Is not the same weather as you experience at ground level. This is one reason why turbines are so tall - to use the benefit of the higher wind speeds at altitude. So the fact that you were experiencing calm weather doesn't necessarily mean that there wasn't enough wind to turn the turbines around. If all the turbines are off, then we may well not have enough wind. But if you look at a wind farm where some turbines are spinning and some aren't? See 2. below.

2. Turbines are often 'parked' as I stated earlier when demand in the grid falls to baseload. So they may well be turned off even though there is enough wind to turn them in order to permit baseload stations (such as coal fired power stations) to continue generating. This is not the fault of the turbines, but the fault of the grid.”

“Neath Valley turbines were not working Sunday and just a couple yesterday. Other turbines not working on Saturday --- what use are they when we have calm weather?”

“Careful Rhyfelwyr. It doesn't pay to contradict the 'experts' on this site. Any minute now they'll be questioning your grammar.”

“Don't know why people have down voted me... oh yes, it's because I'm Philo.

Don't care if some sour grapes don't like me, what I said is correct. We have the Tidal Lagoon guys saying their 250MW will power 107,000 homes and now we have these wind farm guys saying they'll power over 800,000 homes.”

“I see RWE are maintaining the " hype ". They continue to play the North Devon and South Wales local authorities off one and other. RWE infer that If North Devon councils object, then they will build the Array using South Wales ports as their base. RWE have said they would seriously consider using Ilfracombe ( really ?) as their base if North Devon councils came "onside".
Anybody who knows anything about North Sea oil rig type vessels (300 feet long ?) which would be needed in the construction process, knows that Ilfracombe Harbour cannot support that size of vessel. Therefore, it's South Wales ports, or nothing !
If this Array is going to be built, then those affected by it visually, should receive somethng in return. Because apart from that, electric consumers will receive no other benefit, only higher bills !”

“I referred to '30% utilisation'.

The 8000 hours a year is how much *availability* you have minus downtime for servicing (this assumes an industry standard 92% availability - in reality, it's usually more than this, because servicing generally only takes turbines out of commission for a few days each year - you can do a gearbox oil change on a turbine in a day, for example - and these are generally only required every two to three years. Other servicing is usually minimal too. The 92% availability figure is a conservative yardstick.)

The *utilisation rate* is then assessed against the number of hours availability in a year. 30% is a fairly standard figure again. That would be 30% of 8000.

So no, this turbine wouldn't be generating 21 hours a day. It would, on average, be generating around 7-8 hours a day. (In reality, utilisation rates for offshore turbines are greater than this, and may well be around 45%. However, access to the grid is also a constraint, and turbines are often switched off or 'parked' when there is enough wind to power them because there is not enough demand in the grid - and it's easier to park turbines than it is to ramp down baseload fossil fuel power stations. Not a fault of the technology, but a fault of the grid.)

Your reference to 'man made global warming' being a myth? I bow to your superior knowledge here. 99% of the scientific community is wrong, and some random bloke off the interweb is right. The wind industry will be quaking in its very boots. Better tell China to stop investing $30 billion a year in the technology. What do the Chinese know about making money, eh?

I also like your call for hydro and solar power. Hydro has a role to play, sure. But if you max out the hydro potential in the UK? It's still nowhere near the wind potential. And as for solar - slight problem with this technology. It's more expensive, less efficient and generally suited to places with lots of sunlight. Don't know about you, but sunlight in Wales? It's at a bit of a premium generally...”

“Oh come on, no wind turbine is actually producing power for that many hours a year and usually nowhere near. 8000 hours is roughly 21 hours a day. So I'd say yes, a very generous estimate.
Not surprising though is it. Wind farm companies never give realistic estimates do they? Most turbines are only producing a fraction of the promised power.
Anyway, in the light of the latest evidence that man made global warming is a myth, do we really want to continue putting unreliable and expensive wind turbines up?
Hydro power and solar power are much more reliable and worth far more investment.”