How does wind keep pollutants out of the air?
Every hour that a wind plant is generating electricity, a plant – for the most part fossil fuel fired — somewhere else in New England does not need to operate. Demand for electricity is constantly changing, not only between the seasons, but hour to hour, even minute to minute, throughout each and every day. The New England “grid,” which is comprised of the transmission system and the generators supplying the power, is designed to accommodate and adapt to this constantly changing demand. Some baseload plants (such as Vermont Yankee) operate 24 hours a day, but other “peaking” plants are designed to be turned on and off relatively quickly depending on the need for the power. This means that if a wind plant is generating, other plants are not needed and can be turned off. Because most of New England’s peaking generation plants are powered by natural gas, wind can play a vital role in reducing the use of fossil fuels by ramping down those plants.
