Because they don’t produce all the time, aren’t wind turbines an inefficient way to get our electricity?
Wind turbines actually generate electricity most of the time (65 to 80 percent), though the output amount is variable. No power plant – fossil fuel, nuclear or wind – generates energy at 100 percent “nameplate capacity” 100 percent of the time. (“Nameplate capacity” refers to the maximum generation potential of a power plant.) As noted above, commercial wind facilities are also highly interconnected, ensuring that power from wind is available on a consistent basis even if some turbines are not turning at a given moment.
