Don McLean’s American Pie was all about the day the music died; 2021 was all about the year that the wind industry died. Its well-worn claim that wind power is just a heartbeat away from replacing meaningful power sources – such as coal, gas and nuclear – took a battering across the globe last year.
On 16-17 February 2021, Texan wind power output fell to a paltry 2% of installed capacity – thanks to hundreds of wind turbines frozen solid during breathless, freezing weather. Solar panels were buried under inches-deep blankets of snow and ice and, likewise, just as useless.
The result was millions of Texans left freezing in the dark; no doubt, chuffed with the progress of their ‘inevitable transition’ to an all wind and sun-powered future. The only thing that kept the lights on were gas, coal and nuclear.
During the first half of 2021, Germany’s Greens watched on in horror as wind power output plummeted by more than 25% compared to the same period the year before. Over the same timeframe, Germany’s coal-fired power generators increased output by a whopping 38%.
Germany’s energy brains trust had earlier directed the forced closure of 11 coal-fired power plants (with a total capacity of 4.7GW) on 1 January 2021. Only to restart them a week later, when their 30,000 wind turbines failed to deliver anything like their nameplate capacity.
Things got worse as the year progressed and the Big Calm swept across Western Europe.
Starting in September, running through October and well into November wind power output collapsed (often for weeks on end) across Germany and the UK.
The Brits, like the Germans, were forced to reopen coal-fired power plants which they had earlier shuttered with delight.
Remember all that chatter about the death of coal?
After a string of paltry performances, anyone looking to pen a lengthy American-Pie-like dirge for the death of the wind industry has plenty to work with.
For those who missed 2021 and haven’t yet made the connection between wind power and the weather, Donn Dears spells it out below
