Energy from the Wind:

• Where the Wind Blows
• Where the wind blows on the Internet
• California Wind Production Report

Costs:

• American Wind Energy Association claims levelized costs to be 4.8 cents per KWH
• Electrical Power Research Insitute claims the 1993 levelized cost was 7.3 cents per KWH
• In 1980, the levelized cost was about 25 cents per KWH
• Projected future costs are 3-3.5 cents per KWH
• Lower costs reflect economies of scale and improved turbine design

Domestic Production in California:

• 1992: Wind produced 1.1% of total electricity used
• 15,000 wind turbines located at Altamont Pass (East of San Francisco), Tehachapi (near Bakersfield) and San Gorgonio Pass (near Palm Springs)
• This is 54% of the world's production! (Denmark has 20%)
• Peak capacity is 1600 MW

Other States:

• Southwest Minnesota --> 25 MW capacity sold at 5 cents per KWH
• Planned 100 MW facility for Northern Minnesota for 1996 to be sold at a cost of 4.2 cents per KWH
• State law in Minnesota --> by 2002 wind energy capacity should reach 425 Mega Watts

Potential Wind Capacity at Some Locations in the US:

Note: Total electrical energy generated by fossil-fuel plants in 1990 was 2000 billion KWH

• Along the Aleutian Chain --> 402 Billion KWH
• Offshore New England --> 318 Billion
• Offshore South Carolina --> 283 Billion
• Great Plains effort (see below) --> 210 Billion
• Off Shore Texas Gulf Cost --> 190 Billion
• East-West Axis of Lake Superior --> 35 Billion
• North-South Axis of Lake Michigan --> 29 billion
• North-South Axis of Lake Huron --> 23 Billion
• East-West Axis of Lake Erie --> 23 Billion
• East-West Axis of Lake Ontario --> 23 Billion

• Total Capacity --> 1500 billion or 75% of fossil fuel capacity

Some Large Scale Projects:

Aleutian Project --> Stretch turbines out over the entire 1300 mile chain. Use electricity to create Hydrogen. Liquefy the Hydrogen and ship it to California.

Great Plains I: --> One turbine Tower per square mile stretched out from Texas to Canada.

• 300,000 total towers
• Each tower 850 feet high
• each tower has 20 generators and is powered by a two blade propellor of diameter 50 feet.
• Capacity of single tower is 500 KW capacity so total capacity is 150,000 Mega Watts (1/2 the US consumption

• Note, we already have 600,000 oil wells in the US and no one seems to mind

  Great Plains II: --> Clustered wind farms of 165 individual turbines seperated by 60 miles laid out in 300 mile swatch from Texas to Canada

Problems: (?)

• In some locations it will be difficult to connect to the existing grid --> therefore make hydrogen or store energy in batteries
• Installations may be unsightly (but so is air pollution)
• Could interfere with functions on agricultural land
• Susceptible to storm damage (tornado alley) so replacement costs have to be well-calculated
• They are a hazard to migrating birds
• Worse of all - they could potentially interfere with TV reception

Conclusions:

• Price of wind power is coming down.
• There is enormous capacity
• Wind power is a lot more promising that Solar PV production line facilities
• Energy storage, however, is still a problem
• Costs to the consumer will only be competetive if mass production of wind turbines is achieved

Next Page

___________________________________________________________________

The Electronic Universe Project

e-mail: nuts@moo.uoregon.edu