Wind power slump causes CO₂ spike
The Independent Electricity System Operator’s (IESO) summary report for July 28, 2015 demonstrated how it was an atypical day for Ontario’s industrial wind generators.   The Toronto temperature reached 33 degrees Celsius meaning Ontario’s electricity demand was high.  Demand averaged 19,515 MWs per hour and peaked at 22,471 MWh.
Wind generators were playing in the sandbox for the whole 24 hours, producing a miserly 2,180 MWh which equaled 2.9% of their (IESO posted) capacity and less than a half percent (½ %) of total Ontario demand of 462,144 MWh.  For two of those hours (9 and 10) wind produced less than 10 MWh — that probably meant they were drawing more power than they produced.
Picking up the slack for wind generators fell to Ontario’s 9,200 MW capacity of the gas plants.  For several hours those gas plants were running close to their maximums, and in the 24 hours produced 94,386 MWh. That’s slightly more than 20% of Ontario’s total demand.
What this all means is that, on most high-demand, hot summer days, wind can’t be counted on to reduce emissions as wind power advocates claim it does.  Those 94,386 MWh of gas generated electricity cranked up Ontario’s CO₂  emissions on July 28, 2015 by approximately 47,000 tons, thanks to wind’s absence!
Simply put, this confirms the inability of wind to generate electricity when it is needed.
The time has arrived for the Energy Minister, Bob Chiarelli, to recognize the facts and cancel any further additions to Ontario’s wind turbine fleet.   Electricity generated from industrial wind turbines should be recognized as 130-year old technology that simply can’t be counted on when needed.
Pull the plug!
©Parker Gallant,
July 30, 2015