"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
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In Oz they have become aware of the unsolved problem of wind farms
producing output when it can't be used and not producing output
when
it is needed, just as the Danes have after both have invested a
vast
amount in wind farms. UK next?

The UK has a national power grid and high population density so
there
isn't any problem of UK windfarms producing surplus power that
can't be
used; they just feed it into the grid.

The grid is not an effective store. It is primarily a distribution
system. Power generated at the wrong time is power generated at the
wrong time and can be utilised only by other generating units mucking
about with their boiling rates.
Most generating organisations sell the off peak stuff cheap rather
than fiddling continuously with the boilers.

As an island sitting on the west edge of a huge ocean, the UK
overall is
significantly windier than Denmark or a huge dry landmass like
Australia, so UK windfarms have a much lower proportion of
still-time
when they aren't generating. The Ardrossan one I can see from here
is
very, very rarely still.

What does sitting on the west end of a huge ocean have to do with
experiencing significantly more wind than being on the edge of, or in
the middle of a dry land mass? A study of the daily isobar maps
presented by the various weather witch doctors shows no features which
might favour your premise.

Incidentally, last Sunday we noticed the huge windmills right on the
edge (I do mean right on the edge) of a substantial village with tall
buildings, in Weardale. A more ridiculous spot for windmills is hard
to imagine. I wonder what the owners had to do to get planning
permission.

Franz