What
is wind power?
Wind
is a special form of solar energy. The uneven topography
of the earth’s surface, its rotational movement and the
uneven distribution of heat amongst the different layers
of the earth’s atmosphere leads to differential heating
of the earth’s surface. This results in leaving some
parts warmer than the others. Like, the equator is
always hotter compared to the cooler, snow capped poles.
The hot air in the warmer areas becomes less dense,
light and hence rises up. This upwardly movement of the
hot air creates a vacuum which is then and there
occupied by the cold and heavier air from the cooler
parts. The movement of air caused in this phenomenon is
called wind and is essentially a form of energy called
kinetic energy. This kinetic energy is captured and
harvested by modern techniques as wind energy. And the
conversion of this wind energy into a reusable form like
electricity is called wind power. Since wind is the
resource, the wind power cost involved
is an interesting subject to ponder
upon.
How
costly is wind power?
Wind
power is the fastest growing electricity resource
nowadays. Likewise, the cost of electricity generation
from the utility-grade wind energy systems has dripped
by more than 80%, which is no doubt a lot, over the past
20 years. The initial wind power cost when the wind
turbines were fist installed in the 1980s was around
thirty cents per kilowatt-hour, which has now come down
to as low as five cents per kilowatt-hour. Yes, this
miracle has happened thanks to the high tech machines
that are being devised for generating electricity from
wind power. However, the wind power cost is
seeing a gradual decline as new machines with smarter
technology and larger wind energy plants at first-class
locations are being introduced for the
purpose.
Apart
from the cost effectiveness, wind power volunteers for
other economical benefits that assure its competence in
the long run. Wind being a natural, source with a free
and uninterrupted supply, the power generators free us
from our obvious dependency on the fossil fuel plants
for electricity which are rather having supply breaks
quite often these days. The trust on wind power is thus
rest assured. The environmental wallop that the
conventional power plants hit is also reduced per unit
of electricity produced by the wind energy turbines thus
making resource planning a very vital decision to be
taken. Even the land required for installation of the
wind power plants are rented by the farmers which is
indeed a long term income. The land leased for the wind
power plants is only used partially and the framer and
ranchers can still continue with their farming without
any hassles thereby yielding dual
income!
A
cost effective wind power generation bets on the
selection of a suitable site. The power generated is
directly proportional to the wind speed, thus a site
with a wind speed of at least five to seven meters per
second is desirable to generate a adequate supply of
power.
Cost
of wind power cut down
A
clever and smart financing can easily reduce wind power
costs. If obtained on the same terms as that of
financing gas power plants, wind energy expenses can be
reduced largely. Also owning a wind project by a utility
helps in a substantial reduction of the wind power cost.
Like, when owned by a wind developer, a standard 50MW
wind plant would deliver wind power as a rate of 5 cents
per kilowatt-hour. The same plant when financed by an
investor-owned utility (IOU) would deliver power at a
30% reduced rate which is as low as 3.5 cents per
kilowatt-hour.
Save
the earth at a lower cost!
When
comparing between a wind power plant and a coal power
plant, the former gets more points in the favor of
saving the environment from air-polluting agents like
greenhouse gases and acid rains causing visibility
degradation and global warming. The minute
dust-particles released in coal emissions have more
deadly effects on the human beings like respiratory and
cardiovascular disease, asthma all leading to an
increased mortality rate. Being a clean source of power,
wind is highly accepted worldwide. Coming to the
wind power cost, it’s much less than
that involved in the coal power plants. The first and
foremost and possibly the biggest plus point of wind
power is that it is a non-polluting resource which is
free and can be renewed ‘n’ number of times. Apart from
saving power, wind power generators are also easy on the
economy as equated with the fossil fuel plants since
they have a minimum life-cycle cost like no fuel
purchasing and minimal operating expenses. Last but not
the least, wind power industry is still quite fresh in
the market and would need to create a long term contract
in this power regeneration domain so as to reduce the
finance cost by lowering the market
risks.
