Wind isn't going to deliver reliable power i.e. click the switch and the light comes on reliable unless it is coupled to expensive storage systems. The wind generation companies are using the thermal-station base generators plus hydro to level out their fluctuating power inputs at the moment; adding a lot more more on-supply wind power to the grid will probably break things without the ability to store the power or give the grid operators the ability to refuse to accept wind power onto the grid at certain times.
Wave power is not practical unless you can control the weather and stop hurricanes smashing the generators every year or two. Overbuilding the generators to cope with Beaufort 12-plus wind conditions and century waves makes them incredibly expensive per watt generated and even then they will still break sometimes.
And I understand the Grid is now hopelessly outdated and over-loaded, due to consistent under-investment in infrastructure since it was privitised and the dividends to share-holders became more important than anything else.
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andrewducker) wrote2010-08-16 12:00 pm
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Wave power is not practical unless you can control the weather and stop hurricanes smashing the generators every year or two. Overbuilding the generators to cope with Beaufort 12-plus wind conditions and century waves makes them incredibly expensive per watt generated and even then they will still break sometimes.
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