Wind Variability

Wind is variable, but predictable. No power plant is one hundred percent reliable, so an integrated system with multiple sources is already commonly used. In December 2009, nine European  countries  –  Belgium,  Denmark,  France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom – agreed to work together to make a large renewable electricity grid in the North Sea, connecting wind farms, solar power, tidal power, and hydroelectric sources. In October 2010, transmission company Trans-Elect announced the Atlantic Wind Connection  project  to connect offshore wind resources from northern New Jersey  to southern Virginia.  This “backbone” electric grid would   help stabilize the impacts of regional wind variability and is intended to accelerate  the  development of  U.S. offshore  wind projects in the Atlantic. The proposed project is sponsored by Google, investment firm Good  Energies,  and  Marubeni Corporation, a Japanese trading company.