I don't want to cause an argument, but, is that a flat cost in money or over all cost ( environmental cost to produce the materials to make it, the economic and environmental cost to put the materials together and build the turbine ).
It just seams to me that smaller turbines while in the long run may cost more to maintain for a given kilowatt, might be of lower over all cost because they are more adaptable in materials used in building them, take advantage of lower winds speeds, how much they affect the environment and similar factors? Is it better economically to have: 1 300 kw turbine that uses 78 % of the available wind, with a 98% mechanical availability? 2 150 kw turbines that uses 80 % of the available winds ( because they can use slower winds speeds ), each with 98% mechanical availability ( if one is down for repairs then you still have 1/2 of your power generation potential )? 3 100 kw turbines that uses 82 % of available winds, again, each with 98% mechanical availability ( if one is down for repairs then you still have 2/3 of your maximum generation potential )? or 4 75 kw turbines that uses 84% of available winds, again with a 98% mechanical availability ( if one is down, then you still have 3/4 of you maximum generation potential )? Personally, I would think that as far as cost's are concerned, it would be better to have 4 smaller turbines, than 1 large turbine that 2% of the time is not bringing in any revenue. Granted long term cost is going to be higher, but, you get that back, in reliability, and the ability to bring in revenue when the wind is blowing. Maybe I am just looking at things differently. Greg H. ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 12:01 Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Wind Turbines > Kirk, in terms of capital cost per rated kilowatt of capacity, small wind > turbines in the 1-10 kilowatt range tend to be about three times as > expensive as large industrial turbines. The capital cost curve gets pretty > flat around 600 kilowatts of rated capacity. Larger turbines save > especially on labour costs or maintenance. > > The number of makes of small turbines selling into the U.S. market, which > have a good track record for reliability and low maintenance costs, is > small (I would say 2). Unlike the situation in say Denmark, there is no > easy way for a prospective buyer to access this kind of information > Even the best samll wind turbines need regular attention. > > I would say that *for people with reliable grid access*, a small wind > turbine needs to be justified on some other grounds than current > economics. Expected electricity prices and reliability of supply in the > future (given a declining supply of fossil fuels and especially of North > American natural gas) might be one such ground, for people in rural areas > with suitable wind energy resources. Investments in conservation and > efficiency in the use of electricity will generally be more profitable > than investments in alternative supply for most people, until their > electricity use is very frugal. > > Doug Woodard > St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://wwia.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/biofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel archives at Infoarchive.net (searchable): http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/
