Maine Wind Sites Production for entire year 2012
We have final figures for the major industrial wind sites in Maine for the entire year 2012. We continue to track what is miserably poor production, with the exception of Mars Hill, the only project in Maine that comes near the output touted by the wind industry. Wondering why Spruce Mountain Wind in Woodstock does not appear? We finally have the answer: projects of 20 MW rating or less are not required to report to FERC. Aha! Spruce Mt. is 20 MW and its owner, Patriot Renewables, will not post the data. Just look at Record Hill and Spruce Mt. is likely to perform similarly.
Remember, this data comes from the FERC website and is information that comes from the wind industry itself. Again, the ARRA Section 1603 giveaway of taxpayer dollars is included. So much money spent for so little return! If you wish to have a copy of the spreadsheet for this or the one that also includes 4th quarter 2011, please contact me. Brad
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Comment
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Comment by Dan McKay on February 23, 2013 at 7:17am
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Along with Betz' law, constraints that make wind machines so inefficient is losses due to friction within the gearing and bearings, blade positioning to maintain grid- required-harmonized output even when wind velocity is increasing, the machine's requirement for electricity to operate heaters, conditioners, hydraulic functions, etc. If hydro plants were as inefficient at producing electricity as wind experiments, all our dams would be for flood control only.
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Comment by pat ledlie on February 22, 2013 at 7:38am
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So why do they use Capacity Factor instead of the actual MW? This means that you have to do MATH to figure out the actual MW. Maybe they do this because the number 24 is twice as big as the number 12 - no matter that the 24 refers to a percent of another number and not actual mw? (Full disclosure - I had to get my chemist husband to explain this to me - I might not make it through Dan McKay's post!) These people are able to lie because "quantitative" lies are complicated to expose. I can't imagine the evening news given time to a wonky explanation about the difference between a percentage figure and an actual mw figure. I have the idea that "heating Maine home"' is another big lie. My idea is that the power is fungible and just goes into the New England "pool" - or whatever it is called, but this is repeated in every story.
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In physics class, we were given the formula that determines the power of moving air for a given wind velocity.
On Record Hill in Roxbury, there are Siemens 2.3 MW turbines.
At the very best wind velocity scenario , a Siemens 2.3 is only going to have a 2.3 MW output.
But the actual power of the moving air at level out wind speed of 13 meters per second, when the siemens has ramped to a 2.3 MW output is 9.19 MW.
And at 25 meters per second, or shut down speed of the turbine, the power of the moving air, if totally captured would be 65.3 MW.
So, with a wind speed of 25 meters per second, the siemens 2.3 turbine converts a whooping 3.5% of the potential power of the moving air into electricity.
That is one hell of a machine !
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Comment by Stan Wood on February 21, 2013 at 10:59am
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This "nameplate" issue is not hard to understand when you see a attached spec plate indicating the turbine has the capability, under optimum conditions to generate X number of megawatts. However a megawatt must continue for one hour to become a useful megawatt hour which is how we measure output. We can compare this with a generating device operated using steam power. We adjust the output by increasing and decreasing the steam pressure. Wind works in a similar manner without the option of controlling wind velocity.
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Brad, I have a question about the capacity factors; obviously the power being generated by the machines is metered somehow. Is the power that's drawn FROM the grid by these machines figured into the net metering power production figures? Having just read that the turbines must be kept turning as much as possible even in windless conditions in order to prevent warping of their immensely heavy blades, I'm wondering how much power this requires.
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How fast can a car go? Just look at the speedometer.
How much power can a turbine generate? Just look at the nameplate.
The expected Capacity Factor of a turbine is stated in the Proposal and in the Permit. IF the wind is ideal 24/7, the turbine will generate that much power.
Note that the publicity always carefully states "CAN generate ....."; that statement is usually in excess of 30% of the nameplate capacity. The actual output is nearly always well below even that figure. I think the public, like me, is usually bewildered by the haze of numbers used in these matters.
Nameplate Capacity is the same as a speedometer; It is a salesman's wish, not an actual fact. Capacity Factor is a percentage of the installed capacity, the machine's potential performance in ideal conditions. Such conditions rarely happen.
Remember: when you read statements from the AWEA, you are reading sales copy.
Harrison Roper - Houlton/Danforth
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Would someone explain about Nameplate Capacity as opposed to Capacity Factor and give some context. My idea is that nationwide Maine is at the bottom for actual output. And how does that relate to the oft quoted statements that the project will "heat x number of Maine homes". I have the idea that the "Maine homes" part of it is completely bogus because the energy goes into the pot and then is purchased. But what about the figure they give for the number of homes. What is that based on?
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Maine as Third World Country:
CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power
Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.
Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT
******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********
(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/
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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law
Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future
"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."
https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/
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