It’s windy almost everyday here and our energy provider is constantly sending texts to conserve energy. Guessing it has something to do with the oil presence in the state but genuinely baffled given how far Austin is from “traditional Texas”
In: Technology
Because there are much better places in Texas to put wind turbines, and until those places are full there’s basically no reason to put them anywhere else. There’s a ton of significantly cheaper land in places like west texas that will produce much more power.
Here’s a [map](https://windexchange.energy.gov/maps-data/325) of wind speeds that can give you a decent idea of where it’s best to do wind power. Note that Austin’s wind speed isn’t particularly impressive.
Edit: Likely has very little to do with “oil presence in the state” since there’s still a decent number of solar installations around Austin
I mean;
1) Austin itself isn’t actually that good for wind energy in comparison to the rest of the state, as it’s in a bit of a valley. The raised hills *around* Austin are considerably better for wind energy generation. Put a different way, if you were a power company wanting to invest in wind energy production, why would you not put it in a more ideal location for generating wind energy?
2) If Texas were a country, their wind generation capacity with current installed wind energy would be like…5th or 6th in the world. The oil money isn’t stopping renewable investment, and if anything all that oil money is *accelerating* growth of renewables.
Edit: See [NREL’s](https://windexchange.energy.gov/files/u/visualization/image/Texas_Wind_Land_Based_WTK100-01.jpg) map of wind speeds, which essentially map directly to wind energy capacity. Austin is garbage in comparison to the surrounding area.
Like someone else said wind speeds in Austin aren’t that impressive. As someone who grew up in the panhandle of Texas (with hundreds of wind turbines and oil fields) every day was 10-15mph wind, and a windy day was 25mph+ sustained winds.
We do have a thing called power lines that are capable of transmitting electricity. Best to put wind turbine where the wind blows strongest and the land is cheapest which isn’t Austin, and then use power lines to transmit it too Austin.
If you drive out I-10 to Ft. Stockton, you will quickly figure out why there are no wind turbines in Austin. Basically, location, location, location. Same as in real estate. High swept plains on cliffs with constant temperature changing patterns and endless cheap property? Yes. City in a ditch? No.
If you want to explore wind turnbines in Texas, try this link. https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1Ioz
If you set it to Austin or Dallas, it finds nothing. 3 in Houston, and a 7mb list for all of Texas.
(Just change the code from ‘Houston’ in the text panel and hit run)
Bc there’s a shit ton of Hollywood types that live in all those incredible hillside mansions in the hillcountry that don’t want to see a windfarm out there. Can’t say I blame them either
Latest Answers