Re:U.K. offshore wind park may generate power cheaper than b...
by wongarsu on Friday September 20, 2019 @01:30PM
(#21029178)
>Too much wind is an orders of magnitude more likely problem.
It's worth elaborating that too much wind is as bad as too little wind. The blades can only spin so fast before disintegrating, so wind turbines have transmissions and choose a gear appropriate to the current wind speed. Once wind speeds exceed what the highest gear can handle the turbine locks the blades to prevent damage. In that state it doesn't produce any electricity.
Re:U.K. offshore wind park may generate power cheaper than b...
by Robotbeat on Friday September 20, 2019 @02:56PM
(#21030034)
That's not the whole story and is somewhat misleading. Wind turbines feather the blades at high velocity to keep from spinning too fast; they rarely actually have to lock the blades and stop electricity production, and even then that'd be a very localized drop in electricity, more than compensated by increased production from surrounding areas with strong winds.
So, yes, it's so likely that it's practically guaranteed. Too much wind is an orders of magnitude more likely problem.