Wind power’s dirty little secrets

A California court tells the naked and ugly truth about a proposed PG&E wind farm, the Manzana Wind Project:

We reject the application because we find that the Manzana Wind Project is not cost-competitive and poses unacceptable risks to ratepayers. We find that the proposed cost of the Manzana Wind Project is significantly higher than other resources PG&E can procure to meet its RPS program goal. Moreover, it will subject the ratepayers to unacceptable risks due to potential cost increases resulting from project under-performance, less than forecasted project life, and any delays which might occur concerning transmission upgrades and commercial online date.

There’s a lot more at the American Spectator link, but that simple quote above exposes a lot of wind’s problems, including the inconvenient difference between a wind turbine’s capacity and actual performance, the uncertain useful life of turbines and the exposure of customers tied in to paying a fixed sum for intermittent energy. That last point is one that should resonate with Ontarians.

Even before all the promised wind capacity is plugged into the grid, the unpredictability of wind power has forced Ontario to give away electricity when it is generating more than it can use, but consumers still pay producers a fixed amount per kilowatt hour:

“The IESO would experience surplus conditions roughly 14.5% of the time based on average wind output,” it predicts. Under normal market conditions that would cause the price to fall to zero or below and some generators would shut down. But the new wind farms, operating under current contracts that pay the operator 13.5 cents a kilowatt hour, would see all of their power flow onto the grid at the contract price.

There is no incentive for wind producers to stop the turbines, it doesn’t matter to them if the energy they send to the grid is worth zero - they get paid 13.5 cents per KW/h regardless. If you think that’s bad, solar producers earn nearly 80 cents per KW/h - again a guaranteed sum regardless of the market price of power. Today’s spot price for electricity generated by all sources is 3.69 cents per KW/h (link price will change daily).

The Star article also mentions wind power’s really dirty little secret - it doesn’t save a single ounce of CO2:

There’s one other, counter-intuitive problem with increased wind generation. At the moment, more wind power means more gas-fired power. Because wind power is variable, it has to be backed up by natural gas-fired generators, kept idling to be switched in if the wind dips. The reserve generators also have to be paid for, and they boost carbon emissions that wind power is supposed to prevent.

Renewable energy early adopters Spain and France have slashed wind and solar subsidies in the face of economic reality, leaving Ontario with some of the most generous renewables subsidies on the planet. No wonder rent-seekers are salivating at the prospect of money for nothing.

The provincial government is committed to spend $1.1 billion this year on the Orwellian named Ontario Clean Energy Benefit - a subsidy to offset increasing energy costs caused in large part by unaffordable and uneconomic green energy subsidies. The OCEB cannot sustain that high level of consumer credits any more than the province can sustain the wind and solar subsidies.

Premier McGuinty has built a green house of cards that he hopes will stand long enough to get him past October’s election. The opposition thinks differently and if you live in Ontario you should give them a hearing. If you live in a jurisdiction that has grand plans for renewable energy, learn from the mistakes of California, Spain, Italy, Ontario and the UK, and go with coal, gas or if you like green - nuclear. Don’t rely on bird shredders or solar panels - the cost is too high and the benefit too little.

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