U.K. wind power predictable enough to help keep lights on

Reuters | Aug 30, 2012 

LONDON – Wind power in Britain is predictable enough that the grid can rely on it to help keep the lights on, despite spells of cold, calm weather, while it cuts carbon emissions significantly, the Institute for Public Policy Research  said.

Critics have said wind power cannot be relied upon at times that demand is the greatest, cannot be stored and does not cut enough carbon to make large investments worthwhile.
Earlier this year, over 100 members of parliament urged the prime minister to cut support to the onshore wind industry and spread the savings to other forms of renewable? energy that they saw as more reliable.

“The reliability and security of wind power does not depend on the variability of wind but instead on how well changes in wind power output can be predicted and managed,” thinktank IPPR said in a report on Thursday.- More...