Do wind turbines spin all the time?

No. There are several reasons why a wind turbine might not be spinning. The first reason is easy to understand The don't spin if there is no wind blowing. At the other extreme there might be too much wind blowing. read more

No. There are several reasons why a wind turbine might not be spinning. The first reason is easy to understand The don’t spin if there is no wind blowing. At the other extreme there might be too much wind blowing. Wind turbines have a maximum safe wind speed. If the wind is blowing faster than the turbine is rated the safety features will engage. read more

Most wind farms are not run by the electrical utility companies, but by companies that sell the power to the utilities. Wind-generated power is more expensive, so if the utility company doesn't have a contract that will pay the extra cost of that power, they don't buy the wind power to begin with. read more

Remember that just because a wind turbine is spinning does not mean it is producing much power. The output of a turbine goes up with something like the power of 2.5 of the wind speed, so effectively they are off almost all the time, then they run at full blast 20% of the time, and if the wind goes too high they also shut down. read more