I’ve heard that wind energy doesn’t really reduce pollution, because other, fossil-fired generating units have to be kept running on a standby basis in case the wind dies down. Is this true?
No. It is true that other generating plants have to be available to the power system’s operator to supply electricity when the wind is not blowing. However, the wind does not just start and stop. Typically, wind speeds increase gradually and taper off gradually, and the system operator has time to move other plants on and off line (start and stop them from generating) as needed–the fluctuations in wind plant output change more slowly than do the changes in customer demand that a utility must adjust to throughout the day. Studies indicate that for a 100-megawatt wind plant, only about 2 megawatts of conventional capacity is needed to compensate for changes in wind plant output. Also, whenever the wind is blowing, it displaces the most expensive conventional power plant that is generating. Typically, this tends to be the oldest and dirtiest gas plants on a utility system, but in some parts of the country (notably the mid-Atlantic states such as Maryland, West Virginia, or Virginia), wind
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