Wind turbines economics

In 2001, the DOE launched a small wind turbine initiative. The objective was to make wind energy economical in the many areas of the country that have lower wind speeds. This initiative is a 180° turn from the wind energy program of the late 1970s. It is too early to evaluate its results. 

The economic analysis of Fair Isle s power system also showed interesting results. Despite the fact that the wind turbines capital costs comprise 82% of system s total capital cost, the annualised costs for the diesel generator constitute 51% of the total annualised cost for the existing wind-diesel system. This is attributed mainly to the high cost of diesel fuel and partly to relatively high diesel generator s annualised replacement costs. 

It should be noted that the techno-economic analysis performed with HOMER software showed that the wind turbines installed on this island have been overdimensioned and this is the reason for the relatively high annualised cost attributed to wind energy for this system. On the other hand, this is a feature of Fair Isle s power system that most probably makes the introduction of hydrogen energy technologies economically viable. 

The optimisation results revealed that the most economically favourable system configuration for Rauhelleren comprises a wind turbine with a capacity of 140 kW, a 30-kW PEM fuel cell, water electrolyser capable of producing 8 N m3/h of hydrogen and a 400-kg hydrogen storage tank. 

It is clear that during high wind and PV production months, H2 is used less, hence the lower re-electrifier output, and vice versa. Also, in spite of their almost identical capacities, wind turbines tend to be extremely more productive than photovoltaics this indicates that wind instalments are not only cheaper per kW, but also much more energy efficient. As a result, PV investments without further grants (such as per kWh produced) are bound to be excluded from any economic assessment of a proposed hybrid energy system, unless a multi-criteria analysis on 100% RES systems sums up concealed advantages, such as periodic lack of either solar or wind resource availability. 

Finding 5-6. Whether distributed electrolysis becomes economically viable will depend critically on the cost of the electricity used in the electrolysis. Therefore, the price of electricity purchased from the grid and the costs of generating electricity using photovoltaics or wind turbines will be extremely important factors in determining the economic competitiveness of distributed electrolysis. 

Assume high pressure electrolysis cell with drastically lower capital cost of mass production cost higher efficiency Assume no transmission or distributions cost for the wind turbine power which usually adds 0,02-,04/kWh Assumed oxygen recovery for by-product sales with large central plant case, but only minor economic impact... 

It almost goes without saying that clean energy sources are preferable to energy sources which pollute the environment. While we would rather limit ourselves to wind turbines and solar cells, for practical and economic reasons these are unable to meet our needs. Accordingly, current energy demand is principally met by fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas. How can we best meet this growing requirement ... 

A future trend in the electricity supply industry, much discussed, is a move towards distributed (local) generation. This might be based on combined heat and power (CHP) schemes that would employ gas microturbines or gas engines, on solar energy (photovoltaic, solar—thermal) or on wind turbines. Most of the renewables are best utilized on a small-scale, local basis. Distributed generation is applicable in both semi-urban areas and in remote locations and may be the answer for many of those who currently are isolated from mains supplies. Sadly, often these people cannot afford such technology and their economic position is unlikely to improve until they do have access to electricity and fuels. 

E. Hau. Wind Turbines. Fundamentals, Technologies, Applications, Economics. Springer, Berhn, 2006. 

---