This would be a “huge environmental fraud”. Viral posts claim “diesel generators” have been “found” in wind turbines. “They’ve been taking us for idiots for decades!! » reads in all capital letters a publication on the Russian social network VK. The same story is repeated almost every time in a copy/pasted message, like in this tweet shared more than 2,400 times. We then find traces of it on Facebook or LinkedIn.
According to these publications which mention an article from Sunday Mail published on February 5, 2023 – a date which is not specified in the posts –, “more than 70 wind turbines were powered by diesel generators in Scotland”. Scottish Power is said to have used “diesel traction to operate more than 70 wind turbines due to a ‘grid outage’ without explaining how often or to what extent its renewables are powered by diesel.” “I knew it was a scam, but that’s the problem,” comments a user under a post. Except that this story is misleading. We explain why.
FAKE OFF
To do this, you must read the article from Sunday Mail until the end. One of the first misleading assertions in the posts is that a diesel generator “powers” the wind turbines, inducing that the wind turbine would not generate electricity with wind, but with diesel. However, it is not the case. A spokesperson for Scottish Power reminded the Scottish tabloid that “diesel is not used to produce electricity with the blades”, a point on which he insisted.
“Either through incompetence or malice, we are in a major project of manufacturing lies about renewable energies,” analyzes Mattias Vandenbulcke, director of strategy for France Renouvelables, a union of wind power professionals, contacted by 20 minutes. It is designed to induce the idea that we do not produce electricity with wind turbines, but that we in fact consume it, which is false. »
Emergency generators present in all wind farms
The periodicity is also specified in the article, contrary to what the viral posts indicate: “In December [2022]60 turbines at Arecleoch and 11 at Glenn App were knocked out of power due to a wiring fault at the Mark Hill wind farm, the anonymous source said. Sunday Mail. To power up these wind turbines, diesel generators ran for more than six hours a day. »
These diesel generators were used “over a short period” confirmed to the Sunday Mail a Scottish Power spokesperson due to an “external fault on the UK electricity network” during the winter. The goal was to “keep the turbines warm,” writes the tabloid. As Mattias Vandenbulcke explains, these are emergency generators, here running on diesel, and which are present in all wind farms. These generators were therefore not “found”, as the posts claim, implying that a secret has been revealed.
The case of storms
“As with many infrastructures connected to the electricity network, wind turbines need electricity for certain safety operations and, therefore, there are emergency generators, like for a hospital, if ever there is a power cut. » He gives the example of storms: to avoid damage to the wind turbine or breakage of the blade in the event of too strong wind, the wind turbines are feathered.
“This means that we orient the blades so that they no longer engage in the wind,” he explains, “but in a neutral position and therefore, so that they simply no longer rotate. This is done automatically and works with a system of electric servomotors. » He emphasizes that there is a level of responsibility to manage in these infrastructures. The most complicated cases must be considered, such as a power outage, hence the need to have an emergency generator for safety operations, to be able to operate the elevator in the event of rapid intervention. at the top of the wind turbine or feather the blades.
“Maximalist hypotheses”
The context note made on X (formerly Twitter) by a user is also incorrect (and does not correspond to the situation described in the article by Sunday Mail): it is indicated that “in rare cases, it may be necessary to rotate wind turbines artificially in order to prevent components from oxidizing or freezing in the event of prolonged shutdown”. These are “maximalist hypotheses from an industrial and technical point of view”, explains Mattias Vandenbulcke, where the response to be provided in the event of problems is imagined.
“In a very humid place, where there is no wind for a long, long time; there, if we do not want the rotor to seize and there to be a problem when restarting, we could imagine using a little electricity from the network to turn the wind turbine at one point , he emphasizes. Except that never happens. There are no periods sufficient to generate corrosion when there is no wind anywhere in the world. » And in the case of frost, the wind turbines are now equipped with a defrosting system.