Fairley writes clearly for the general public about emerging technology to make wind power more practical. Integrating wind forecasting into grid planning can reliably add wind power and maximize pollution reductions (systems will not need as large an amount of conventional more polluting reserves for backup. Interestingly, the technology was in place in Texas to avoid the recent emergency power cuts to customers who had volunteered to be compensated for the same. The utility, however, had failed to integrate the information: a wind advocate explains, "The system operators didn't know that was coming, but the forecasters did...They just didn't walk it over to the right person. If they had integrated it into their system ... More »

As wind turbines are spread over larger grid connected areas, the unpredictability of wind becomes a little less important. Fronts travel through areas and activate one wind farm after the other. As solar electric uptake increases, solar will to some extent balance wind since the sun often shines when the wind doesn't blow. However, when renewables begin to dominate the grids, the possibility of demand balancing becomes a reality. Think water heating, electric car charging etc. Then when the water is hot and the car is charged demand is reduced when generation is low.

Wind power complicates life. The article clearly presents details of technical difficulties created with the introduction of wind power into the electrical grid. The statistics show a dramatic increase in wind power from the past and expected in the near future. The real time variations of wind must be accurately transmitted to conventional power sources in time for them to adjust power if wind slackens or is more robust than expected. Accuracy of weather forecasting also becomes a crucial factor, and sudden consumer demands can create brownout threats. The difficulties are being coped with adequately. A couple of the links provided are not specific to the topic.

Excellent, factual article citing the necessity of and advances being made in wind forecasting as the production of wind power increases.

A very good story. It appears that no source of power is simple to use.

Wind power is a tricky deal. It is nice to see a possible solution. Good article, these type of articles are a little harder to come by.