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Fact check: Why wind turbines stand still despite the wind

Wind turbines and reality: myths, facts and the complexity of energy production! An investigation for skeptics and the curious.

Author: Tom Wannenmacher

We recently received an inquiry at Mimikama: “ Is it true that wind turbines stand still despite the wind?” “ An understandable question, because who would expect a wind turbine to stand still when there is wind? The short answer is: yes, they do. We reported on this topic in great detail in 2022. But why?

Wind turbines: Don't they always work as expected?

Wind turbines are remarkable machines built to convert wind into electrical energy. It therefore seems contradictory that they could stand still in windy conditions. But, as we all know, not everything is as it seems at first glance.

An oversupply: too much of a good thing?

It sounds paradoxical: a wind turbine that stops because of too much wind. However, the reality is that strong winds can actually produce too much energy. And that's not always a good thing. The power grids could become overloaded, and to prevent this it may be necessary to shut down the wind turbines.

The economic question: When electricity is worth less

In some cases it is the economics that make the difference. If there is too much energy and prices fall, it could become uneconomical for wind farm operators to keep their wheels turning. Sometimes the price can even go negative, meaning producers have to pay to feed their electricity into the grid.

Money worries trump environmental concerns.

Sometimes there is so much electricity that the price becomes very low or even negative. This means that wind farm owners can lose money. In order not to lose money, they turn off their wind turbines. On about 20 days a year, wind power is virtually worthless because of these low prices. During this time, power producers even have to pay to sell their electricity. If this continues, there could be up to two months of the year when the wind turbines remain switched off until 2026.

The infrastructure problem: There is a lack of connections

One of the biggest challenges for wind energy in Germany is the lack of infrastructure. Despite sufficient generation in the windy north, there are a lack of sufficient connections to the consumption-intensive south. This means that even when wind turbines are ready and able to produce electricity, they sometimes have to be shut down because there is simply nowhere to send their power.

Functioning power grids should actually route the electricity generated from the windy areas of northern Germany to the south. But due to a lack of pipeline infrastructure, the wind turbines often come to a standstill. As “agrarheute” reports, over 4.8 billion kilowatt hours of green energy could not be fed into the grid in the first half of 2022, mainly due to line limitations. This value corresponds to around five terawatt hours or around one percent of annual electricity consumption in Germany.

Fact check: The truth behind wind turbines

ClaimsFact check
Wind turbines can stop in strong winds because too much energy is being generated.Correct. This may be necessary to avoid overloading the networks.
If there is an oversupply of energy, electricity prices can fall into negative territory.Correct. There are times when power producers have to pay to feed electricity into the grid.
On about 20 days a year, wind power is practically worthless due to low prices.Correct. This can lead to negative electricity prices, causing producers to pay to bring electricity to the grid.
By 2026, there could be up to two months of the year when the wind turbines remain switched off.Speculative. It depends on many factors, including the development of storage solutions and network infrastructure.
Despite sufficient electricity generation in the north, there are no connections to the south.Correct. Infrastructural challenges often prevent generated electricity from being transported to high-consumption areas.
Over 4.8 billion kilowatt hours of renewable energy could not be fed in in 2022.Correct, according to the report from “agrarheute”.

Conclusion: wind turbines and their dancing shadows

It's not always easy to separate myths from facts, especially when it comes to topics as complex as energy. But it's important to understand that wind turbines - like all technology - don't always work the way we expect or want. There are many factors that influence whether a wind turbine rotates or stands still. It is a fascinating interplay of technology, economy and infrastructure. And while we still have many questions, one thing is certain: wind energy will continue to play a central role in our energy future. It is up to us to use them most efficiently and effectively.

Source: agricultural

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Notes:

1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication
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The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual articles (not fact checks) were created using machine help and
were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )


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