Most grid operators say the same thing - that this is the level that can be reached with minor investments in the existing systems, with more requiring new investment to be made.
In the worst case, you force the wind producers to pay "balancing costs" to the network (i.e. a penalty that you pay if you deliver a volume of production different from what you announced a day or so before). The UK system works that way; what happens is that windfarms sell to utilities that manage the balancing requirement within their wider portfolios - the utilities get a cut for that service. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
It doesn't scale very well though - not enough sites.
Regards Luke -- #include witty_sig.h
We recently needed to replace our flat roof. There were a number of choices, but when analyzed financially, only two really made sense. The short term $10,000 membrane roof with an expected life between 10 and 15 years and the Cadillac long term $30,000 roof with an additional R12 of insulation with an expected life between 40 and 50 years. Given the way small apartment buildings turn over, the first choice is often the most financially desirable. That needs to change. (By the way we went with the Cadillac. Even though it is somewhat unlikely we will hang on to this building for another 10 years.) Oh - our building is heated by electric baseboard.
aspiring to genteel poverty
