Wind energy subsidies yield more than they cost

2008-07-24 06:22 PM

Geo Energy Network
Chaguanas, TX
Posts: 39

From: Leonardo ENERGY, submitted by Bruno De Wachter on July 17, 2008.

Revenues for US Treasury calculated

Wind energy is often criticised by competing forms of energy generation for some of its perceived aspects. It is said to cause dispatching problems, to be more expensive than fossil fuel, to have a limited global potential, and to represent a high cost to society.

This last critique has now been contradicted by GE Energy Financial Services. Their study ‘Impact of 2007 Wind Farms on US Treasury’ concludes that the financial incentive for wind energy by the US federal government has a positive Internal Rate of Return (IRR).

This incentive consists of a Production Tax Credit (PTC), currently rated at 2.1 US cents/kWh, which is granted for the first 10 years of a wind farm’s production. The PTC has been a key element in the expansion of wind energy in the US….

Read Full Article: http://www.leonardo-energy.org/drupal/node/3463

2008-07-31 03:13 AM

Geo Energy Network
Chaguanas, TX
Posts: 39

The economic model used in the above analysis: http://www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/windpoweringamerica/filter_detail.asp?itemid=707

2008-09-13 12:58 AM

Geo Energy Network
Chaguanas, TX
Posts: 39

An article on some recent research to address one of the issues associated with wind power generation – “voltage dips”…

> New techniques to protect wind generators during voltage dips « Technology For Life

Quote:

An industrial engineer and member of the INGEPER Research Team at the Public University of Navarre (Spain), Jesús López Taberna, has put forward in his PhD two protection techniques so that wind generators continue to be operative despite breaks in electricity supply.

The objective of Jesús López Taberna was to provide a solution to the problems caused by sudden dips in voltage in the electric grid. The fruit of his research is a rotor model which enables anticipating how the wind power unit will behave in these situations. This system allows the generator to remain in operation during these voltage dips and thus prevent the wind energy converter from ceasing to function.

A voltage dip is a sudden reduction in potential in the electric grid, followed by a rapid return to its normal value…