“While ice can form over the entire span of the blade, much more ice is found near the tips. After one 30-hour icing event, we found ice as much as a foot thick. Despite the high wind, the ice-heavy turbines rotated much slower and even shut down. The turbines produced only 20% of their normal power over that period.”
Which means relying on windmills for electric heat in the winter is a fool’s errand. And Austin Energy relies for almost half its total electricity production on windmills. Ensuring customer outages when it’s cold.
Via The Conversation
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 