Costs & Investment
in Wind Electric Generators
Realities concerning the micro, the
small and the large wind
turbines (and wind farms) are very different. And so is their
initial investment… A micro wind turbine for typical battery
charging use may cost you a few hundred dollars, but a
reasonable large wind farm, with, say, 20 typical mega turbines
may cost you $20 million dollars or more…
Costs also depend on location, type of system (on-grid,
stand-alone, offshore, onshore...), and
involving
infrastructures and high voltage lines.
Small wind systems prices
Small turbines of 1 kW (kilowatt)
may cost you something around 2,500 or
3,000 USD.
Larger turbines may cost you rather proportionally. Prices
between 20,000 and 25,000 USD (13,000€ - 16,000 €) are common
for 7,5 kW turbines (more than sufficient to provide the
electrical needs of a home), while a 10k kW turbine may cost you
around 30,000 USD…
These are just references that include the turbine, components
(mast, inverters, battery storage…) and installation, though
special anti-corrosion paintings and other more specific options
are often billed separately.
Micro wind systems prices
There is a wide range of applications for micro wind systems.
Most of these systems cost only some hundreds of dollars, but most
demanding ones, connected to battery charging (up to 1kW) may cost
up to 2,500 - $3,000 (1,700€ - 1,900 €).
Wind Farms Investment
Wind farms are costly projects. A typical 1,5 MW mega turbine
may cost you 1,000,000 USD (630,000 €) or more. And since a wind
farm involves a reasonable number of turbines to obtain large economies of scale (costs reductions
due to dimension), investments higher than
20,000,000 are common.
Stand alone and grid-connected systems
On-grid systems are usually cheaper than stand-alone
systems… if the high voltage lines are sufficiently close to the
turbines. Differences of 3,000 to 5,000 USD in prices are common.
See:
Stand alone energy systems
On-grid energy systems
Offshore wind vs. onshore wind costs
So far offshore energy costs are higher than
onshore wind ones. Capital costs may be around 30-50% higher,
due to foundations or extra costs of transporting and
installing.
That’s why onshore may be a better option in good windy sites.
However, since offshore wind loads and resources are usually
better, the initial extra-investment may be partially offset by
higher energy production…
Besides, offshore technology improvements may also narrow the
gap between the initial investments on onshore and offshore.
Prices are expected to drop significantly on offshore installations and
technology.
See, for details:
Wind farms
Onshore and offshores wind systems
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