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Does wind power have to be backed up by fossil fuels on the grid?
| Even large amounts of wind power would require little to no backup by fossil fuel. In a 2004 study, the Minnesota Department of Commerce found that 1,500 MW of wind generation would require only 8 MW of “spinning reserve,” Spinning reserve is the electricity generation that can come online immediately to make up for any sudden shortfall in supply. Furthermore, there is usually already more spinning reserve available on a system than would ever be required by wind power. Typically, the electricity grid operator maintains enough spinning reserve to insure there are no disruptions should the two or three largest generation sources go offline. In New England, the system operator (ISONE) operates about 2,800 MW of spinning reserve to account for the two biggest potential generation interruptions: the disruption of the 1,600 MW interconnection with Hydro Quebec and the loss of generation at either the Millstone or Seabrook nuclear plants (both rated at 1,200 MW). Therefore, until 2,800 MW of wind farms are built in New England, additional spinning reserve for loss of a wind plant is not required. |
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