Does use of wind turbines lead to idling of a fossil fuel power station?
Wind power projects are spread throughout the province and there is little overall impact if the wind stops blowing in one particular place, as it is always blowing somewhere else. To put it in perspective, the power system itself is inherently variable, since electricity flows – both supply and demand – are influenced by a large number of planned and unplanned factors. Changing weather makes people switch their heating and lighting on and off, millions of consumers expect instant power for TVs and computers, this means that the supply of power on the grid is always being varied to meet the constantly changing demand needs. This is done by always keeping some amount of power generation operating as standby called spinning reserves, regardless of whether the grid has any wind turbine connected to it or not. Also, wind turbines like any coal, nuclear or gas powered generator are induction machines, meaning that they all need an external source of power called excitation current to induce
