Effects of Wind Energy on Thermal Power Plants

Increasing wind energy use affects both existing power plants as well as future investments in the electricity market. Only a small contribution to total system reliability is added by wind energy. Part load operation and lower efficiency caused by the integration of wind energy lead to higher specific emissions of thermal power plants. Consequently, the reduction of emissions by wind energy is less than generally expected. Using wind energy leads to a decreasing electricity production of thermal power plants and, as a result, investment decisions for future power plants are dominated by fixed costs.