Wind Generation

[MAX-24-Dean]

It's been 2 years and my question has not been answered so i'll ask again in a slightly different context .

Has anyone ever seen a cable being buried from a commercial windmill to a point that electricity can be distributed ?

Yes, I have worked on them. On the projects I have worked on it is typically a direct burial cable rated for 35,000 volts (35KVA). From tower to Junction boxes to BPA substations.
They really do produce power. But less than 30% of the time. They are not a "Base Load" source like a Hydro project or Coal or Natural gas generating station. So they need the government subsidies just to exist.
There has been a lot more dumping of water over dams since the wind turbines have been installed in the Pacific North West.

 

[SandburRanch]

Before I retired I did a lot of survey work on a 62 turbine wind farm. Everything is underground except the overhead lines where they tie into the grid.
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If you've seen cable buried across rural fields or pasture land, what type of equipment was used to bury it ?

Underground Cable Installation Tools | BigRentz

You surely know that wires, cable, and pipes are typical cable tools but there are a lot of other tools that make underground cabling possible

www.bigrentz.com

 

[MossRoad]

Even more interesting is trying to find a single power plant that has be replaced by wind power? ...

Eddie, here's a bar chart provided by AEP (American Electric Power), who provides power in 11 states. It's one of the largest in the country.

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It shows the sources they used to generate power in 3 different years;
1999
2005
2020
And what it expects in the year 2030.
It's kinda clear that as coal goes away, other forms of generation are coming up. It does not show specifically that wind coming up (the yellow is wind, solar, pumped, and hydro), but it does show that renewables are going to supply more than coal by 2030. Coal plants are getting replaced.

Personally, I don't care for wind power. I'd rather see solar and nuclear.

 

[MossRoad]

Before I retired I did a lot of survey work on a 62 turbine wind farm. Everything is underground except the overhead lines where they tie into the grid.
***********************************************************************************************************************

If you've seen cable buried across rural fields or pasture land, what type of equipment was used to bury it ?

Underground Cable Installation Tools | BigRentz

You surely know that wires, cable, and pipes are typical cable tools but there are a lot of other tools that make underground cabling possible

www.bigrentz.com

 

[EddieWalker]

If the massive failure to the Grid in Texas proved anything, it's that the people in charge are all a bunch of liars. Call me what you want, but I do not trust anything that we are being told, about anything.

I have a few friends that have worked on windmills, and I know what they charge them to do those repairs. The money to keep them working is unbelievable.

Replacing power plants with windmills is a recipe for failure. Building more windmills to prove that they work, regardless of reality, is what our government does all the time. There is just too much money involved to stop something just because it's not working.

 

[Hay Dude]

Nukes and gas is the real reliable answer.
solar and wind Too inconsistent and fraught with other issues (weather, lack of reliability, foreign imports) to place faith of critical uninterrupted energy.

Too much about feelings and not enough about public safety

Wind mills on mountain ranges and solar panels on our farm lands are UGLY

 

[jyoutz]

China opens a new coal fired power plant at the average pace of like 1 per month, WHILE they sell us Chinese made solar panels and wind mills.

They must laugh at us until their ribs hurt! We will fund them for decades through Chinese made solar panel and wind turbine purchases until their ascension to the #1 super power.

Why does this discussion always result in a deflection to whatever China is doing? Why can’t we do things to improve the health and environment for us in the US? Coal is not a desirable source for power generation in this century. The mining destroys the land (I’ve seen plenty of the “rehabbed” mine sites: rock piles with thin soil tossed on top), pollutes our water and air with mercury and sulfur dioxide, and produces toxic slag that creates a hazardous waste disposal site. And for what? Coal power is more expensive than natural gas produced power and renewables are rapidly becoming cheaper also. In my state, the last large coal plant is scheduled to be converted to natural gas in 2023/24. We are doing well with a mix of natural gas, wind and solar, with electrical bills that are actually a bit cheaper than 10 years ago. Let’s do something good for America and clean up our country and not worry about what other countries are doing.

 

[jyoutz]

If the massive failure to the Grid in Texas proved anything, it's that the people in charge are all a bunch of liars. Call me what you want, but I do not trust anything that we are being told, about anything.

I have a few friends that have worked on windmills, and I know what they charge them to do those repairs. The money to keep them working is unbelievable.

Replacing power plants with windmills is a recipe for failure. Building more windmills to prove that they work, regardless of reality, is what our government does all the time. There is just too much money involved to stop something just because it's not working.

It proves that Texas can’t build anything suitable for cold weather because they are a bunch of warm weather weenies. Other states can build things that don’t break when the weather is cold.

 

[jyoutz]

I understand how wind farms generate electricity when the wind is blowing at the proper speed, and how they just sit there when the wind isn't correct. I also understand that when they are producing energy, this adds to the amount of power available. Do you understand that when they are not working, then they are not adding to the grid?

Reasons for them to not work isn't just limited to a lack of wind. Freezing has proven to be a significant problem. Dust is the biggest issues. Where the wind blows, there is a lot of dust. Dust wears away all moving parts. Wind mills require a massive amounts of lubrication. Windmills require a massive amount of man hours to provide this lubrication. And windmills wear out quickly because they are constantly sand blasted by what's flying around in the air from the wind.

The cost of the windmill, the cost to transport it, the cost of the land, and the cost to assemble it, does not come close to paying for it. Add maintenance to the equation and how short of a lifespan they have, means that every wind mill loses money. It is feel good science. It's politics at it's worse.

Freezing isn’t an issue anywhere but Texas. And power companies obviously understand the economics better than you.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

And the good thing is the pollution they create stays within the borders of China.

LOL! No, they send it back over here.