By Manny Piñol
As Mindanao reeled from a massive power outage early Easter Sunday, the images of hundreds of huge windmills in the Yucca Desert Valley in Palm Spring, California which I saw last week came rushing back to my mind.
The Yucca Desert Valley windmills and thousands of other similar energy-producing wind turbines account for a huge share of the “green energy” being produced in the United States today.
Indeed, why would the Philippines be dependent solely on geothermal and hydro power when strong winds sweep through the country all year round.
“Hanging Habagat” and “Hanging Amihan,” referring to the Easterly and Westerly winds, are words which are part of our vocabulary.
There are wind turbines in Ilocos Norte today but except for the fact that they look impressive, it seems the government’s energy department has not given these alternative energy source much attention.
In my estimation, the initial capital investments for wind turbines would be daunting.
For the Province of North Cotabato which requires about 35MW, the total cost of the wind turbines to be constructed to supply the power needs would be around P3-B.
However, if one considers the fact that this alternative energy source does not need anything to power it, with only regular maintenance requirements, it would be a lot less costly in the long run.
I made some researches on the wind turbines producing “green energy” and here are some of the information I gathered:
From the Windustry webpage:
“Wind turbines under 100 kilowatts cost roughly $3,000 to $8,000 per kilowatt of capacity. A 10 kilowatt machine (the size needed to power a large home) might have an installed cost of $50,000-$80,000 (or more).
“Wind turbines have significant economies of scale. Smaller farm or residential scale turbines cost less overall, but are more expensive per kilowatt of energy producing capacity. Oftentimes there are tax and other incentives that can dramatically reduce the cost of a wind project.
“The costs for a utility scale wind turbine range from about $1.3 million to $2.2 million per MW of nameplate capacity installed. Most of the commercial-scale turbines installed today are 2 MW in size and cost roughly $3-$4 million installed.
“Total costs for installing a commercial-scale wind turbine will vary significantly depending on the number of turbines ordered, cost of financing, when the turbine purchase agreement was executed, construction contracts, the location of the project, and other factors. Cost components for wind projects include things other than the turbines, such as wind resource assessment and site analysis expenses; construction expenses; permitting and interconnection studies; utility system upgrades, transformers, protection and metering equipment; insurance; operations, warranty, maintenance, and repair; legal and consultation fees. Other factors that will impact your project economics include taxes and incentives.”
From the United States wind turbine industry webpage:
1. The United States currently has 61,110 MW of installed wind project capacity, comprising 5.7% of total U.S. installed electric generating capacity.
2. Wind mills have been in use since 2000 B.C. and were first developed in China and Persia.
3. Wind power is currently the fastest-growing source of electricity production in the world.
4. Iowa and South Dakota generated more than 25% of their energy from wind during 2013.
5. A single wind turbine can power 500 homes.
6. In 2012, the Shepherds Flat wind project became the largest online wind project in the United States (845 megawatts), breaking the record previously held by the Roscoe Wind Farm (781.5 megawatts).
7. In 2013, the roughly 168 million megawatt-hours generated by wind energy avoided 95.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) — the equivalent of reducing power-sector CO2 emissions by 4.4% or removing 16.9 million cars from the roads.
8. There’s enough on-shore wind in America to power the country 10 times over.
9. In 2013, 12 states accounted for 80% of U.S. wind-generated electricity: Texas, Iowa, California, Oklahoma, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Oregon, Colorado, Washington, North Dakota, and Wyoming. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration March Electric Power Monthly report.
10. Most wind turbines (95%) are installed on private land.
11. Modern wind turbines produce 15 times more electricity than the typical turbine did in 1990.
12. At times, wind energy produces as much as 25% of the electricity on the Texas power grid.
13. American wind power is a $10 billion a year industry.
14. Unlike nearly every other form of energy, wind power uses virtually no water.
15. By 2030, U.S. wind power will save nearly 30 trillion bottles of water.
16. At times, wind power produces as much as 45% of the electricity in Spain.
17. Wind energy became the number-one source of new U.S. electricity-generating capacity for the first time in 2012, providing some 42% of all new generating capacity. In fact, 2012 was a strong year for all renewables, as together they accounted for more than 55% of all new U.S. generating capacity.
18. During 2013, California led the nation in new wind installations (with 269 megawatts), followed by Kansas, Michigan, Texas, and New York.
19. 70% of all U.S. Congressional Districts are home to an operating wind project, a wind-related manufacturing facility, or both.
20. As of May 2014, the United States is home to 46,000 operating wind turbines.
21. Right now, 559 wind-related manufacturing facilities produce a product for the U.S. wind energy industry across 44 states.
22. Both Nevada and Puerto Rico added their first utility-scale projects during 2012.
23. In 2000, more than 60% of U.S. wind power capacity was installed in California, with 17 states hosting utility-scale wind turbines. Today, 39 states and Puerto Rico share 60 gigawatts of utility-scale wind project development.
24. Wind is a credible source of new electricity generation in the United States. Wind power comprised 43% of all new U.S. electric capacity additions in 2012 and represented $25 billion in new investment. Wind power currently contributes more than 12% of total electricity generation in nine states (with three of these states above 20%), and provides more than 4% of total U.S. electricity supply. Source: 2012 Wind Technologies Market Report
25. Wind energy prices have dropped since 2009 and now rival previous lows. Lower wind turbine prices and installed project costs, along with improved capacity factors, are enabling aggressive wind power pricing. After topping out at nearly $70/megawatt-hour in 2009, the average levelized long-term price from wind power sales agreements signed in 2011/2012 – many of which were for projects built in 2012 – fell to around $40/megawatt-hour nationwide.
Perhaps, it is high time that our government takes a second look at the cost-benefit ratio of the wind turbines for energy production.
(Photos show the wind turbines in the Yucca Desert Valley in Palm Spring, Southern California.)
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