Good Advice

This may seem too obvious to even mention, but it’s a good idea to build wind farms in places that actually, you know, get a decent amount of wind.
But amazingly, it seems that many of the wind farms in the U.K. don’t get enough wind to make them a reliable source of energy.
The wind industry rates locations by their average annual wind speeds, which is called a “load factor.” The recommended load factor for a wind farm is at least 30 percent.
Though there are plenty of windy spots in the U.K. – some wind farms in Scotland and Wales come in at about 45 percent – there are many more that fall far short. One, in Cumbria, for example, rates at only 20 to 21 percent, and of the 25 wind farms in Eastern England only five (5!) have load factors that meet the 30 percent threshold.
Wow. That just seems amazingly short-sighted.
How could this happen? Some energy consultants blame government pressure to produce green energy. The U.K. wants 15 percent of its energy to come from renewable sources by 2014, and power companies are rushing to put up wind farms.
Certainly, I’m not privy to what went into the decisions to build the under-performing sites, but I can’t help but think that the subsidies that the government used to offer for building wind farms played a role.
Those subsidies are no longer available; now the government sets targets that power suppliers must meet, selling a certain percentage of green electricity each year, and imposing fines on those that don’t make their numbers.
Hopefully, these penalties may make some power companies realize that the windless wind farms are bringing their averages down.