Thursday 31 January 2013

German wind energy 2012: No increase in wind energy production despite 1000 new wind turbines

A sudden outburst of honesty by a representative of the German wind energy industry:

But despite the increase in the number of units (1000 new units, NNoN), the amount of electricity they contributed to the grid merely remained stable. According to Sylvia Pilarsky-Grosch, vice president of the German Wind Energy Association, "We didn't produce more electricity in 2012 with wind energy than we did in 2011." And one of the reasons for that was that there simply wasn't enough wind.

Yes indeed, when the wind does not blow, neither German, nor any other  wind turbines produce energy. And when the sun does not shine, not even the most expensive solar panels add energy to the grid. 

So much for the reliability of these renewable sources of energy. 

1 comment:

A K Haart said...

"And one of the reasons for that was that there simply wasn't enough wind."

Maybe another reason was that new installations tend to be built on less favourable sites. Doesn't account for the year on year flatlining though.