Winds of change: economics of wind power

After reading my blog from 4/16/09, a colleague who consults in the wind energy business informed me that the 75 ton weight I mentioned doesn’t come close to the weight of the 2 to 3 megawatt wind turbines which, he tells me, can weigh up to 1000 tons!

He also expressed concern about failure of major components. Over the lifetime of a wind turbine, maintenance and repair can add about 20% over the initial construction and installation cost. He assured me, however, that improvements are being made to increase the reliability of components such as gear boxed.

Will Limkemann

www.siqualtd.com