Comments on: Doonreay to be ‘nuclear heritage site’ as cost of Westminster rush for new nuclear is tallied http://forargyll.com/2009/11/doonreay-to-be-nuclear-heritage-site-as-cost-of-westminster-rush-for-new-nuclear-is-tallied/ Sun, 12 Feb 2012 09:09:22 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Webcrafthttp://forargyll.com/2009/11/doonreay-to-be-nuclear-heritage-site-as-cost-of-westminster-rush-for-new-nuclear-is-tallied/#comment-104848 Webcraft Sun, 19 Sep 2010 12:22:41 +0000 http://forargyll.com/?p=17346#comment-104848 The comment above is, I am afraid, wildly inaccurate. The 53% figure quoted by John Patrick applies to a single very windy day, November 8th 2009. In fact, wind energy covered just 14.3% of the demand in 2009. In addition, it is worth noting that Spain has a huge thermal gas combined cycle generating capacity of 78,364 GWh . Gas turbine power stations are the only type of power station that can be instantly ramped up to meet grid demand when the wind stops. Once our wind generating capacity reaches a certain percentage of the total demand we will have to build new gas powered stations as backup. The comment above is, I am afraid, wildly inaccurate. The 53% figure quoted by John Patrick applies to a single very windy day, November 8th 2009.

In fact, wind energy covered just 14.3% of the demand in 2009.

In addition, it is worth noting that Spain has a huge thermal gas combined cycle generating capacity of 78,364 GWh . Gas turbine power stations are the only type of power station that can be instantly ramped up to meet grid demand when the wind stops. Once our wind generating capacity reaches a certain percentage of the total demand we will have to build new gas powered stations as backup.

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]]> By: John Patrickhttp://forargyll.com/2009/11/doonreay-to-be-nuclear-heritage-site-as-cost-of-westminster-rush-for-new-nuclear-is-tallied/#comment-17566 John Patrick Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:54:23 +0000 http://forargyll.com/?p=17346#comment-17566 Spanish wind farms with a theoretical maximum capacity of almost 18GW generated 11.5GW in the last twelve months, providing about 53% of Spain's total electricity needs. The output was a new record in a country that has the world's third largest array of wind turbines. The total output of the wind farms was equivalent to that of 11 nuclear power plants, one more than Mr Brown is proposing for England & Wales. The massive output also meant that the Spanish grid had more electricity than what it requires, and all that excess energy was used by hydroelectric plants similar to our own Cruachan Power Station to pump water back into their dams for future electricity generation when the wind was not blowing. According to the Guardian, the UK is currently third from bottom in a European renewable energy league table. Despite Scotland being the windiest country in Europe, the UK generates just under 2% of its energy from renewable energy such as wind energy and solar. This is less than most countries in Europe - with the exception of Luxembourg and Malta. We clearly have no shame as a country or we would not tolerate this terrible inaction of our energy ministers and government. We don’t need new thinking here; simply copy the Spanish, they have proven it works beyond any doubt. Scotland could be a net exporter of green electricity in no time. This would also provide quality local employment and the much needed investment cash for infrastructure improvements for the highlands and islands. Unfortunately Ed Miliband MP and Jim Mather MSP are bottom of the league players compared to their European energy counterparts. If they can’t get the planning process sorted out, then Scotland and the UK will continue to trail Europe and more nuclear stations will have to be built in Scotland as well as England and Wales. This is not rocket science, it is propeller science! Spanish wind farms with a theoretical maximum capacity of almost 18GW generated 11.5GW in the last twelve months, providing about 53% of Spain’s total electricity needs. The output was a new record in a country that has the world’s third largest array of wind turbines.

The total output of the wind farms was equivalent to that of 11 nuclear power plants, one more than Mr Brown is proposing for England & Wales. The massive output also meant that the Spanish grid had more electricity than what it requires, and all that excess energy was used by hydroelectric plants similar to our own Cruachan Power Station to pump water back into their dams for future electricity generation when the wind was not blowing.

According to the Guardian, the UK is currently third from bottom in a European renewable energy league table. Despite Scotland being the windiest country in Europe, the UK generates just under 2% of its energy from renewable energy such as wind energy and solar. This is less than most countries in Europe – with the exception of Luxembourg and Malta. We clearly have no shame as a country or we would not tolerate this terrible inaction of our energy ministers and government.

We don’t need new thinking here; simply copy the Spanish, they have proven it works beyond any doubt. Scotland could be a net exporter of green electricity in no time. This would also provide quality local employment and the much needed investment cash for infrastructure improvements for the highlands and islands. Unfortunately Ed Miliband MP and Jim Mather MSP are bottom of the league players compared to their European energy counterparts. If they can’t get the planning process sorted out, then Scotland and the UK will continue to trail Europe and more nuclear stations will have to be built in Scotland as well as England and Wales. This is not rocket science, it is propeller science!

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