The Breakup Of The Cost Of Wind Energy

The free of cost motive power in wind can be used to produce cheap wind energy (electricity using wind power) by installation of wind turbines, connecting them to power generators, and connecting the power cables to an electricity grid. The cost of wind energy is much lower than the power produced from new steam turbine based power plants.

To be cost effective, the cost of wind energy must be lower than the price at which it can be sold. The breakup of the cost of wind energy (or the cost of generating electricity) can be divided into three different costs. These include the cost of capital used, the cost of operation, and the funding cost. The capital cost comprises the cost of building the power plant and the cost of connecting the power plant to the electricity grid.

The operational cost consists of the cost of buying the fuel and the cost of the operation and maintenance of the power plant. The cost of funding is the cost of repayment of the capital cost.

Wind fuel cost is zero. Therefore, after the cost of capital has been fully repaid, the only costs left over are the operation and maintenance costs and certain fixed costs such as the rent on the land on which the power plant is built. For land-based wind energy projects, the cost of capital is in the 75% to 90% range. In any wind energy project, the highest capital cost is of the wind turbine.

The two main factors that cause the maximum influence on the cost of wind energy include technical factors and financial factors. The technical factors include wind speed and the turbine type. The financial factors include the required rate of return on the capital and the period of repayment of the capital.

The details of these technical factors are given below.

Technical factors: Basically, the cost of electricity generation is lowered the more the electricity is produced. The electricity generation quantum depends upon the following three factors.

Windiness: The wind speed defines the windiness of the site at which the wind turbine has been installed. The motive wind power varies directly as the cube of the wind speed. This means that if the wind speed becomes twice, the motive wind power increases to eight times the power at the original wind speed. Practically, 80% more electricity will be produced at a site where the wind speed is 8 meters per second as compared to where the wind speed is 6 meters per second.

Wind Turbine Availability: This is the capability to operate the wind turbine when the wind is available. This is about 98% or more in the case of European turbines in use currently.

Turbine Arrangement: Turbines must not shadow each other.

The cost of wind energy goes up with the rate of return on the capital. It has been coming down in recent years as the cost of wind turbines has been dropping.