The world’s largest wind farm is the Roscoe Wind Complex in Texas. It covers 100,000 acres, has 600+ turbines, and at full capacity generates 781.5 megawatts of power.
Compare that to New York City’s energy use on a hot day:
With the temperature expected to reach triple digits across the city by afternoon, Con Edison officials were preparing for the highest demand for power they had ever had to supply. Their forecast was for 13,450 megawatts, a surge they said — fingers crossed — that they were prepared for.
So, all New York City needs to run on wind is A) wind (it’s not particularly breezy in the current hot spell); and B) a wind farm about the size of Delaware. Good luck with that.
Wind tends to die off during the day, when power demand peaks. Looking at the California ISO website, wind generation is down from 1600 MW at midnite to about 1000 at 9 AM. This is the equivalent of one good sized coal power plant (600 MW). Some of this slack is filled in with solar here in Cali, but NYC doesn't have nearly the solar potential that we have.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAnd, lacking the ability to control the planet (wind), NYC will need to maintain all the traditional power generating resources on which they've always been dependent. So, they'll get to pay for a coal plant and Delaware full of wind mills.
'Wonder how Delaware feels about this?
Beautiful.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhen criticizing this forward thinking development, Pollowitz fails to point out that these wind turbines do not foul the earth or poison the seas, or risk giving off toxic radiation, rather they co-exist and share the acreage they are on with farmland! That's right: the farmers use the land to grow cotton, and earn land use payments from the turnbines in place there. This is a beautiful thing, and all Pollowitz can do is point out that New York City consumes tons of energy? This is the type of backwards nay saying logic that has helped stop this country from leading the way in renewable energy. Try to keep things is perspective, and don't miss the forest for the poison ivy you are standing in. ; )
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse