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U.S. solar will pass wind in 2025 and leave coal in the dust soon after (pv-magazine-usa.com)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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Based on current deployment rates, it is likely that solar will surpass wind as the third-largest source of electricity. And solar may soon topple coal in the number two spot.

Looking ahead, through July 2028, FERC expects no new coal capacity to come online based on its “high probability additions” forecast. Meanwhile 63 coal plants are expected to be retired, subtracting 25 GW from the 198 GW total, and landing at about 173 GW of coal capacity by 2028. Meanwhile, FERC forecasts 92.6 GW of “high probability additions” solar will come online through July 2028.

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[–] -1 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Wind turbines have to be constantly spinning due to inertia to get them started due to that they have big diesel engines that keep them going the minimum speed. I'm not trying to be inflammatory and am welcome to a fact check.

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  • [–] 9 points 1 year ago*

    This is complete BS, I could find zero sources for that claim, and several debunking it.

    The only tangentially related thing I could find was that in colder climates, they need heat to de-ice the wings, and at one point, the power supply to a Scottish wind farm was cut off, so they put in some temporary diesel generators on-site to power the de-icing system to get the turbines going again.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    So, I do not believe that is a thing. Apparently there are some wind turbines with diesel generators attached somewhere, but it's not for that reason. Offshore wind seems to have them in case they get disconnected from the grid because they rely on some power to protect themselves from ocean air, and apparently a wind array in Scottland had some to keep the turbines from freezing over. Frankly though there just isn't room in the turbine's housing to keep a whole diesel engine, at least most of the time.

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