Wind Power Cost

Though the wind turbines commercially cost around 3 million USD for a 2MW rated turbine, the cost of turbines is now expected to decrease due to recent perks declared by U.S. and European companies to encourage wind power. Also, the companies in China and India have started large scale production which may balance the demand and supply and reduce prices significantly. But is the wind turbine viable enough for individual daily use. Probably not for now, but soon it will be.

Wind Power is one of the most promising alternative energy resources along with solar energy. With more and more research being done around the world, the cost of wind turbines is drastically reducing and it is expected to match the cost-efficiency of conventional power sources like coal very soon. Currently however, wind power is a relatively expensive power resource as compared to conventional resource and heavily depends on Government subsidies to bring the cost of wind turbines down to affordable levels

Cost of wind turbines includes the engineering that goes behind it, its capacity, its quality, overall project size and the specifications for which it has been made as in on-land or in-sea use. It also needs regular maintenance and that may increase the overall cost of wind turbine depending upon location and company. For reference, larger commercial wind turbines cost in the range of 1 to 2.5 million USD per megawatt of capacity. Most of the turbines being installed nowadays are of 2MW capacity and cost anywhere between 3-4 million USD.

Since many companies from China and India are now increasing production and research into the sector, the cost of wind turbines is coming down very fast. It is believed Chinese companies like Gold Wind and Sinovel will flood the wind power market with its products by end-2009 bringing down costs significantly. Currently Denmark’s Vestas, India’s Suzlon, GE and Enercon are some large companies which have reliable wind turbines in commercial sector.

As for domestic wind power producing turbines, the development has been slow till now but is expected to pick up pace. A 10 kilowatt machine may cost around thirty thousand to fifty thousand dollars for small business or home use. However, if the wind turbines are hand-made and do-it-yourself then they can cost around only 1000 USD! However they can power hardly some appliances. To power an average home, a 10 kW turbine is preferable. Generally the cost of per kilowatt capacity in case of large wind farms is around $2000 to $4000/kW.

So, if annual maintenance is also taken into account, then the overall cost of any wind power project can be redeemed or can reach break-even levels in about 10-15 years of operation. However this varies with local taxes and perks which may be given by authorities. It is notable that before the current credit crisis, cost of wind turbines was seen to be escalating due to shortage of supplies. With the development of larger, efficient wind turbines like Enercon’s 6MW model, the commercial wind power space is seemingly more viable now.

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Wind Power Cost