Paul Lindsey: A Hot-Air Wind Turbine?

Commentary by Paul Lindsey, former naval nuclear officer, Wind turbines of all sizes have plenty of advocates, because the promise of electricity with zero fuel cost is very attractive. Santa Fe County has a 10 kW Bergey Excel turbine on a 120 ft tower at their Public Works Complex. The inclusion of the wind turbine at the new complex was justified by stating that it would provide 3-6.8% of the facility’s electricity. Recently, the Sierra Club endorsed Santa Fe County Commissioner Virginia Vigil for the District 3 Public Regulation Commission position. In her responses to the Sierra Club questionnaire, Ms. Vigil cited her support for the 12kw (sic) wind turbine. Now that it’s been in operation for more than two years, has the $75,000 spent by Santa Fe County been a good investment? Umm, no. The wind turbine is averaging 5780 kWh/yr. At 9 c/kWh, that’s a total annual electricity cost savings of $520, or $43.33 per month. At that rate, it will take 144 YEARS to payback the installation expense, assuming that there a no repair or maintenance costs. That is also 3-5 times the design life of the turbine, so the County would have to buy and install a new turbine (currently $32K each) at least two more times. The cost of a replacement turbine alone puts the County in a tail chase, because the payback time for $32,000 is 11 years longer than the maximum expected design life, unless the cost of electricity to Santa Fe County rises to 11 c/kWh. To payback the original $75K turbine cost (which includes the tower, installation and connection expenses) within 50 years, the cost of electricity would have to go up to 26 c/kWh! . Read column

Paul Lindsey: A Hot-Air Wind Turbine?