Trump Is ‘Not Considering’ A Carbon Tax

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The White House is not considering a tax on carbon dioxide to fight global warming, according to an administration official. “The Trump Administration is not considering a carbon tax,” said White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters, according to Axios, shortly after Press Secretary Sean Spicer gave an ambiguous answer on the subject when asked by reporters at […]

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March 22, 2017 at 06:30AM

EXCLUSIVE: NY AG’s Private Email History Raises Questions About Anti-Exxon Campaign

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A senior staff member for New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman used a private email account five years ago to set up meetings on climate change with prominent environmental groups. Legal discoveries show that Lem Srolovic, the assistant attorney general at the New York Attorney General’s Office, used his personal email account in 2012 to prepare […]

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March 22, 2017 at 06:30AM

Lawmakers Try To Save Critical Military Assets From Wind Turbines

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North Carolina state lawmakers have filed a bill to protect critical military assets from wind turbine development. The bill would halt permits for new wind farms until the Pentagon determines they do not interfere with military operations. Lawmakers worry new wind farms could endanger pilots and paratroopers at the state’s six military installations. Lawmakers also […]

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March 22, 2017 at 06:30AM

By the numbers: Lifetime Performance of World’s First Offshore Wind Farm

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Decommissioning of world’s first offshore wind farm offers an opportunity to see how industry costs have changed over the past 25 years.

Guest essay by T. A. “Ike” Kiefer

Lifetime Performance of World’s First Offshore Wind Farm

The first offshore windfarm in the world has just been decommissioned and is now being torn down ( http://ift.tt/2mVgHNn ). Its lifetime performance specs are illuminating in comparison with recent wind industry data, and alternative generation options.

Decommissioning has started at the 26-year old Vindeby offshore project, one of the world’s first. The 4.95MW Vindeby offshore project was installed in 1991 using 11 Bonus 450kW turbines. It operated 1.5-3.0km off the southern Danish coast.

1991 Vindeby Offshore Wind Farm – Denmark

Years of Operation: 1991-2016 (25)

Capital Cost: 75M Kroner = $13M (1991USD) = $23M (2017USD)

Number of Turbines: 11 @ 450 kW

Lifetime Generation: 243 GWh

Nameplate Capacity: 4.9 MW

Average Power Output: 1.1 MW

Cost/Nampepate Capacity: $2.65/Watt (1991USD), $4.7/Watt (2017USD)

Lifetime Capacity Factor: 22%

Cost/Effective Output: $12/Watt (1991USD), $21/Watt (2017USD)

Levelized Capital Cost: $53/MWh (1991USD), $95/MWh (2017USD)

Levelized VOM Cost: $65/MWh (Estimated using $130/kw-hr industry figures for 2015)

Lower Bound of LCOE: $160/MWh (2017USD)

2015 Industry Performance Data for Offshore Wind (http://ift.tt/1Pp2qji ).

Cost/Nameplate Capacity: $5/Watt

Capacity Factor: 40%

Cost/Effective Output: $12.5/Watt

O&M Costs: $130/kW-yr

Lower bound of LCOE: $150/MWh (2015USD), $154/MWh (2017USD)

 

Conclusions:

1. While turbines are getting larger, able to operate at lower wind speeds, and improving their capacity factors, the total lifecycle cost per unit of energy provided from offshore wind has not perceptibly decreased from 1991 to 2015. Higher costs of O&M for larger turbines farther offshore seems to consume savings from higher capacity factors.

2. As it is uncontrollably variable and weather dependent, offshore wind generation remains uncompetitive with gas and coal which are half the cost (~ $70/MWh LCOE) while providing fully dispatchable and weather-independent power that is of much higher value to a power grid.