Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

sault18 t1_jawt6p6 wrote

It looks like there might be a hard floor of 9GW fossil generation that is more apparent at higher wind speeds. Either turning the fossil plants completely off is not allowed by contract or law maybe? Or this grid needs the inertia of these fossil power plants? So, the apparent upswing in the curve fit at very high windspeeds is a bit misleading. Also, extremely high winds might be associated with cold fronts / snaps that cause wind farms to feather their turbine blades or electricity demand to spike.

7

Barra79 OP t1_jax6k0u wrote

Wind turbines turn their blades to a full stall position in high wind conditions to prevent damage to the turbine. So if the turbines are not producing electricity at high wind speeds, then more electricity has to be produced using fossil fuels. The wind drought in Germany before Christmas coincided with the coldest weather conditions there this winter.

4