 |
|
Wind Power Exposed: The Renewable Energy Source is Expensive, Unreliable and Won’t Save Natural Gas.
Peter Glover and Michael J. Economides
Posted on Nov. 25, 2008

This is not what President-elect Barack Obama's energy and climate strategists would want to hear. It would be anathema to Al Gore and other assorted luminaries touting renewable energy sources which in one giant swoop will save the world from the “tyranny” of fossil fuels and mitigate global warming. And as if these were not big enough issues, oilman T. Boone Pickens’ grandiose plan for wind farms from Texas to Canada is supposed to bring about a replacement for the natural gas now used for power generation. That move will then lead to energy independence from foreign oil. Too good to be true? Yes, and in fact it is a lot worse. Wind has been the cornerstone of almost all environmentalist and social engineering proclamations for more than three decades and has accelerated to a crescendo the last few years in both the United States and the European Union. But Europe, getting a head start, has had to cope with the reality borne by experience and it is a pretty ugly picture. Independent reports have consistently revealed an industry plagued by high construction and maintenance costs, highly volatile reliability and a voracious appetite for taxpayer subsidies. Such is the economic strain on taxpayer funds being poured into wind power by Europe's early pioneers -- Denmark, Germany and Spain – that all have recently been forced to scale back their investments. As a result this summer, the U.K., under pressure to meet an ambitious E.U. climate target of 20 percent carbon dioxide cuts by 2020, assumed the mantle of world leader in wind power production. It did so as a direct consequence of the U.K. Government's Renewables Obligations Certificate, a financial incentive scheme for power companies to build wind farms. Thus the U.K.'s wind operation provides the ideal case study -- and one that provides the most complete conclusions. The U.K. has all the natural advantages. It is the windiest country in Europe. It has one of the continent's longest coastlines for the more productive (and less obtrusive) offshore farms. It has a long-established national power grid. In short, if wind power is less than successful in the U.K., its success is not guaranteed anywhere. But wind infrastructure has come at a steep price. In fiscal year 2007-08 U.K. electricity customers were forced to pay a total of over $1 billion to the owners of wind turbines. That figure is due to rise to over $6 billion a year by 2020 given the government's unprecedented plan to build a nationwide infrastructure with some 25 gigawatts of wind capacity, in a bid to shift away from fossil fuel use. Ofgem, which regulates the U.K.'s electricity and gas markets, has already expressed its concern at the burgeoning tab being picked up by the British taxpayer which, they claim, is “grossly distorting the market” while hiding the real cost of wind power. In the past year alone, prices for electricity and natural gas in the U.K. have risen twice as fast as the European Union average according to figures released in November by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. While 15 percent energy price rises were experienced across the E.U., in the U.K. gas and electricity prices rose by a staggering 29.7 percent. Ofgem believes wind subsidy has been a prime factor and questions the logic when, for all the public investment, wind produces a mere 1.3 percent of the U.K.'s energy needs. In May 2008, a report from Cambridge Energy Research Associates warned that an over-reliance on offshore wind farms to meet European renewable energy targets would further create supply problems and drive up investor costs. No taxpayer respite there. But worse news was to come. In August, the most in-depth independent assessment yet of Britain's expanding wind turbine industry was published. In the journal Energy Policy gas turbine expert Jim Oswald and his co-authors, came up with a series of damning conclusions: not only is wind power far more expensive and unreliable than previously thought, it cannot avoid using high levels of natural gas, which not only it will increase costs but in turn will mean far less of a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions than has been claimed. Oswald's report highlights the key issue of load factor, the actual power generated compared to the theoretical maximum, and how critical it is to the viability of the wind power industry. In 2006, according to U.K. government statistics, the average load factor for wind turbines across the U.K. was 27.4 percent. Thus a typical 2 megawatt turbine actually produced only 0.54 MW of power on an average day. The worst performing U.K. turbine had a load factor of just 7 percent. These figures reflect a poor return on investment. But this poor return is often obscured by the subsidy system that allows turbine operators and supporters to claim they can make a profit even when turbines operate at a very low load factors. So what’s the bottom line? British consumers are paying twice over for their electricity, funding its means of production and paying for its use as end users. Variability is one of the chief criticisms levelled at wind power. When the wind drops or blows too hard, turbines stop spinning and you get no power. Wind turbine advocates have claimed that this can be avoided by the geographical spread of wind farms, perhaps by creating an international “supergrid.” But, as Oswald's report makes clear, calm conditions not only prevail on a fairly regular basis, they often extend across the country with the same conditions being experienced as far away as France and Germany. Worse still, says Oswald, long periods of calm over recent decades occurred in the dead of winter when electricity demand is highest. Periods of low wind means a need for pumped storage and essential back-up facilities. Oswald told The Register online news service that a realistically feasible U.K. pumped-storage base would only cope with one or two days of low winds at best. As regards back-up facilities, Oswald states the only feasible systems for the planned 25 gigawatt wind system would be one that relied equally on old-style natural gas turbines. As Oswald says however, the expense of a threefold wind, pump storage and gas turbine back-up solution "would be ridiculous." The problems don’t end there. The British report highlights what more and more wind farms would mean when it came to installing gas turbine back-ups. "Electricity operators will respond by installing lower-cost plant ($/kW) as high capital plant is not justified under low utilisation regimes." But cheap gas turbines are far less efficient than big, properly sized base-load turbines and will not be as resilient in coping with the heavy load cycling they would experience. Cheaper, less resilient plants will mean high maintenance costs and spare back-up gas turbines to replace broken ones that would suffer regular thermal stress cracking. And of course, the increasing use of gas for the turbines would have a detrimental effect on reducing carbon dioxide emission – always one of the chief factors behind the wind revolution. Oswald's report concludes also that the all this wear and tear will further stress the gas pipeline network and gas storage system. "High-efficiency base load plant is not designed or developed for load cycling," says Oswald. Critically, most of the issues raised in the independent report have not been factored into the cost of wind calculations. With typical British understatement, Oswald concludes that claims for wind power are "unduly optimistic." We think they've been blown away.
|
|
|
Back Home
Back to Top
|
 |
|
|
Germany’s Nuclear Bridge
By Geoffrey Styles
Sep. 2 2010, 2:52 EST
|
E85 Case Study: Iowa
By Robert Rapier
Sep. 1 2010, 2:54 EST
|
Wind Energy’s House of Cards
By Steve Goreham
Aug. 31 2010, 2:17 EST
|
Looking Back to Look Ahead
By Geoffrey Styles
Aug. 30 2010, 5:33 EST
|
Wind Energy Gets Huge Subsidies. So Wher...
By Robert Bryce
Aug. 27 2010, 2:15 EST
|
Oil and Gas Industry Tax Incentives: Ho...
By Michael J. Economides
Aug. 25 2010, 7:45 EST
|
Turkmenistan Warms to US, Hugs China
By Andres Cala
Aug. 24 2010, 7:03 EST
|
Anthony Cordesman Busts the Myth of Ener...
By Robert Bryce
Aug. 23 2010, 6:01 EST
|
The Great British Solar Scam (and the sc...
By Peter C Glover, ET European correspondent
Aug. 20 2010, 6:12 EST
|
The End of Coal?
By Robert Bryce, ET managing editor
Aug. 19 2010, 6:17 EST
|
By Executive Order
By Geoffrey Styles, blogger at Energy Outlook
Aug. 18 2010, 2:10 EST
|
A Better Ethanol Policy
By Robert Rapier
Aug. 17 2010, 2:02 EST
|
|
|
|
BP Tripled Ad Spending After Spill
By John M. Broder
Sep. 2 2010, 4:12 EST
|
Colorado: A Leader in Wind Energy
By Greg Vallin
Sep. 2 2010, 4:06 EST
|
Global Jackup Report Card Part II
By Rigzone Staff
Sep. 2 2010, 4:02 EST
|
Russian Government Rethinks Energy Polic...
By Anna Sulimina
Sep. 2 2010, 3:46 EST
|
Oil Price Ignores Long-Term Supply Worri...
By Angus Mcdowall
Sep. 2 2010, 1:20 EST
|
German Military Study Warns of Potential...
By Robert Rapier
Sep. 2 2010, 1:17 EST
|
Risks Remain with Gulf Well Cap Coming O...
By CNBC
Sep. 2 2010, 12:33 EST
|
A Greener Champagne Bottle
By Liz Alderman
Sep. 1 2010, 12:44 EST
|
Obama Lobbied to Add Solar Panels to Whi...
By USA Today
Sep. 1 2010, 12:39 EST
|
The Facts About Wind Energy and Emission...
By Michael Goggin
Sep. 1 2010, 12:07 EST
|
The Peak Oil Crisis: Prospects for China
By Tom Whipple
Sep. 1 2010, 11:53 EST
|
A Nuclear Giant Moves Into Wind
By Matthew L. Wald
Sep. 1 2010, 11:49 EST
|
|
|
|
Oil Sheen Spreading from Gulf Platform E...
By Alan Levin and Julie Schmit
Sep. 2 2010, 3:58 EST
|
Oil Rig Explodes in Gulf, 1 Person Injur...
By CBS NEWS
Sep. 2 2010, 3:57 EST
|
Canada’s Renewable-Fuel Regulations Comp...
By Alexandre Deslongchamps and Irene Shen
Sep. 2 2010, 3:57 EST
|
Petrobras Gains to Two-Week High
By Peter Millard
Sep. 2 2010, 3:53 EST
|
Chelsea Produce Market to Receive 2 Mill...
By Beth Daley
Sep. 2 2010, 1:12 EST
|
Calif. HOV-Lane Expanded To Include More...
By Viknesh Vijayenthiran
Sep. 1 2010, 11:05 EST
|
Chilean President Optimistic About Miner...
By English News
Sep. 1 2010, 10:57 EST
|
Strict Rules for Regulators on Ties to t...
By Stephen Power
Sep. 1 2010, 10:10 EST
|
Bahamas Drill Ban Hurts Shares in Oil Ex...
By Reuters
Aug. 31 2010, 1:10 EST
|
Exelon to Buy Deere’s Wind Power Unit Fo...
By CNBC
Aug. 31 2010, 12:10 EST
|
Chile Begins Drilling Mine Rescue Shaft
By BBC News
Aug. 31 2010, 11:05 EST
|
BP’s Life on Frontiers of Energy Industr...
By Jane Wardell
Aug. 30 2010, 1:29 EST
|
|
|
|
Europe Crude Markets Strengthen On Deman...
By The Wall Street Journal
Aug. 27 2010, 11:17 EST
|
Nuclear Reactor Designs Likely to Win U....
By Kari Lundgren
Aug. 26 2010, 3:09 EST
|
Rover Technology Could Improve Solar Pow...
By Sify News
Aug. 24 2010, 11:30 EST
|
Romania Aims to Decide on Nuclear Units ...
By Reuters
Aug. 19 2010, 5:41 EST
|
Spain’s Renovalia to Invest in Canadian ...
By Shannon Roxborough
Aug. 12 2010, 2:30 EST
|
U.K. Will Open Nuclear Power Station in ...
By Robert Hutton and Kari Lundgren
Aug. 9 2010, 12:43 EST
|
Ecuador Renegotiates With Foreign Oil Fi...
By Spencer Swartz and Mercedes Alvaro
Aug. 9 2010, 12:05 EST
|
North Sea Oil Groups Seek to Speed Devel...
By Mathew Carr
Aug. 9 2010, 12:01 EST
|
Fire Put Out at British Nuclear Weapons ...
By the CNN Wire Staff
Aug. 4 2010, 12:17 EST
|
Green Activists Out to Prevent BP Oil Dr...
By The London Evening Standard
Aug. 2 2010, 1:29 EST
|
EU’s Ethanol Production Up 60 Percent
By Biofuels International
Jul. 28 2010, 2:29 EST
|
Britain to Allow Export of Civil Nuclear...
By Nicholas Watt
Jul. 28 2010, 11:44 EST
|
|
|
|
Russia: Iran’s Nuclear Plant to Get Fuel...
By CNBC
Aug. 13 2010, 5:01 EST
|
Lawmakers Unlikely to Block US-Russia Ci...
By Washington Examiner
Aug. 12 2010, 5:13 EST
|
BP’s Dudley to Meet Top Russian Energy O...
By Katya Golubkova and Jessica Bachman
Aug. 2 2010, 11:28 EST
|
Russia to Spend 200M on Largest Wind-Pow...
By RIA Novosti
Jul. 30 2010, 5:33 EST
|
Russia`s Zarubezhneft to Drill Cuba Oil ...
By Tehran Times
Jul. 15 2010, 11:25 EST
|
Russia Ready to Ship Oil Products to Ira...
By Xinhua News
Jul. 14 2010, 11:48 EST
|
Russia, Vietnam Boost Oil Cooperation
By The Moscow Times
Jul. 12 2010, 12:54 EST
|
Russia Challenges Middle East on Oil to ...
By Christian Schmollinger
Jul. 8 2010, 2:41 EST
|
Russia Becoming Major Oil Supplier to U....
By Ria Novosti
Jul. 7 2010, 11:42 EST
|
Russia Holds Oil Output at Record in Jun...
By Anna Shiryaevskaya
Jul. 2 2010, 11:43 EST
|
Poland, Germany, Slovakia Delay Green En...
By Catherine Craig and Anna Czajkowska
Jul. 1 2010, 12:46 EST
|
Total to Develop Gas Field in Barents Se...
By Geraldine Amiel
Jun. 29 2010, 1:42 EST
|
|
|
|
Middle East Direct Peace Talks Begin in ...
By BBC News
Sep. 2 2010, 12:41 EST
|
Qatar Exchange On An Upswing
By The Peninsula
Sep. 1 2010, 11:46 EST
|
Iran Sets 2020 Target for Nuclear Fusion...
By Las Vegas Sun
Sep. 1 2010, 9:55 EST
|
Iran to Resume Gas Export to Turkey
By Tehran Times
Aug. 31 2010, 10:55 EST
|
OPEC Oil Output Declined on Iraqi Pipeli...
By Karyn Peterson and Mark Shenk
Aug. 31 2010, 10:19 EST
|
Iran Has No Intention to Make Nuclear Bo...
By English News
Aug. 30 2010, 12:52 EST
|
Iraq Oil Flow To Turkey On Hold Since Su...
By Wall Street Journal
Aug. 30 2010, 11:48 EST
|
OPEC to Cut Exports, Oil Movements Says
By Arabian Business
Aug. 27 2010, 11:23 EST
|
Israeli FM: No Peace Deal Within One Yea...
By English News
Aug. 26 2010, 11:52 EST
|
Abu Dhabi To Build 100 MW CSP Plant
By Stephen Lacey
Aug. 25 2010, 2:06 EST
|
Iran Test-Fires New Surface-to-Surface M...
By English News
Aug. 25 2010, 1:57 EST
|
Iran Inaugurates New Cross-Country Gas P...
By Tehran Times
Aug. 24 2010, 11:21 EST
|
|
|
|
North Korea Hopes for Early Nuclear Talk...
By BBC News
Aug. 30 2010, 1:09 EST
|
China, South Africa In Talks On Nuclear ...
By Automated Trader
Aug. 24 2010, 11:24 EST
|
Sinopec Says China Oil Imports May Slow ...
By Reuters
Aug. 24 2010, 11:17 EST
|
Korea Pension in Talks to Buy U.S. Oil P...
By Seonjin Cha and Saeromi Shin
Aug. 23 2010, 2:52 EST
|
China Guangdong Nuclear Signs MOU With V...
By NASDAQ
Aug. 19 2010, 5:35 EST
|
China to Send Delegation to Uganda on Oi...
By Emmanuel Gyezaho
Aug. 19 2010, 12:27 EST
|
Woodside, Rival Chevron Find More Gas Of...
By San Francisco Chronicle
Aug. 17 2010, 2:48 EST
|
Chinese Buyers Defer Prompt Coal Shipmen...
By Steel Guru
Aug. 16 2010, 5:38 EST
|
China Asked to Set Ceiling on Coal Outpu...
By iStock Analyst
Aug. 12 2010, 2:23 EST
|
Korea Close to Deal for North Sea Oil
By Robin Pagnamenta and Gary Parkinson
Aug. 12 2010, 2:06 EST
|
Nuclear Venture to Target Mideast If Exp...
By Ayesha Daya
Aug. 10 2010, 4:41 EST
|
Japan May Consider Cutting Oil Imports
By Gulf Times
Aug. 10 2010, 3:43 EST
|
|
|
|
India to Build the World’s Largest Solar...
By Xinhua Net
Sep. 2 2010, 12:29 EST
|
Top Envoys to Meet US Over Resumption of...
By Kim Young-jin
Sep. 1 2010, 11:12 EST
|
JAL Submits Rehab Plan to Tokyo District...
By Xiong Tong
Aug. 31 2010, 12:39 EST
|
North Korean Pair Viewed as Key to Secre...
By Jay Solomon
Aug. 31 2010, 11:11 EST
|
Japanese, Korean Firms Eye Indonesia’s E...
By Reuters
Aug. 30 2010, 1:40 EST
|
Kingdom, Japan Nearing Nuclear Deal
By Taylor Luck
Aug. 27 2010, 11:26 EST
|
Indonesia Approved 15 Oil and Gas Projec...
By Deden Sudrajat
Aug. 25 2010, 2:01 EST
|
Kuwait Raises Concerns Over Safety of Ir...
By Elsa Baxter
Aug. 25 2010, 1:06 EST
|
The Greening of Mining, Our Place in the...
By Mathaba
Aug. 20 2010, 2:59 EST
|
Mongolia Can Undercut Australian Coal Ex...
By Steel Guru
Aug. 17 2010, 2:09 EST
|
Bangladesh to Shut Gas Stations Amid Pow...
By Anbarasan Ethirajan
Aug. 13 2010, 5:05 EST
|
Chevron Makes Gas Discovery Off Coast of...
By Edward Klump
Aug. 13 2010, 4:43 EST
|
|
|
|
U.S. May Finance Coal Projects in India,...
By Mongabay
Aug. 27 2010, 4:04 EST
|
India Overtakes Japan in Demand for Oil
By Aveek Datta
Aug. 26 2010, 11:24 EST
|
India Says Still Pursuing Peace Pipeline
By Tehran Times
Aug. 18 2010, 12:25 EST
|
Wet Coal Has Hit Power Generation in Ind...
By Steel Guru
Aug. 10 2010, 4:00 EST
|
Adani Buys Linc Coal Assets for 2.72 Bil...
By James Fontanella-Khan and Lachlan Colquhoun
Aug. 3 2010, 5:06 EST
|
India Interested in Queensland Coal
By Tony Grant-Taylor
Jul. 13 2010, 4:35 EST
|
Singh’s Resolve to Rein in Spending Test...
By Bibhudatta Pradhan
Jul. 5 2010, 11:53 EST
|
India Auction of Oil, Gas Blocks Fetches...
By AFP
Jul. 1 2010, 11:21 EST
|
India’s Crude Oil Production Expands by ...
By Deccan Herald
Jun. 29 2010, 12:46 EST
|
Bangladesh Seeks Indian Help for Khulna ...
By SteelGuru
Jun. 28 2010, 12:17 EST
|
Scrapping of Fuel Regulation to Boost In...
By Rakteem Katakey
Jun. 28 2010, 11:51 EST
|
India Boosts Imports of Colombian Therma...
By Dinakar Sethuraman
Jun. 18 2010, 12:20 EST
|
|
|
|
Nigeria May Give Brazil Access to Oil, G...
By Paul Okolo
Sep. 1 2010, 9:53 EST
|
IAEA: Sudan Needs Two Research Nuclear R...
By Bernama
Aug. 27 2010, 4:47 EST
|
Solar Energy Brings Power to Rural Afric...
By Catriona Davies
Aug. 23 2010, 4:55 EST
|
Wind Could Power 35 Percent of South Afr...
By English News
Aug. 17 2010, 3:56 EST
|
Oil Pipeline Sabotage Increasing In Nige...
By RTT News
Aug. 16 2010, 5:26 EST
|
Nigerian Govts Accused of Not Favoring A...
By OpeOluwani Akintayo
Aug. 13 2010, 4:39 EST
|
OPEC Likely to Maintain Oil Output at Ne...
By Candido Mendes
Aug. 13 2010, 4:25 EST
|
Nigeria sees China, U.S. Interest in Oil...
By Reuters
Jul. 30 2010, 5:11 EST
|
Shell to Sell 4 Oil Blocks in Niger Delt...
By Chika Amanze-Nwachuku
Jul. 29 2010, 3:07 EST
|
HSBC in Energy Trading Alliance with Tot...
By Reuters
Jul. 23 2010, 12:53 EST
|
Nigeria’s Oil Company Says Units Won’t B...
By Elisha Bala-Gbogbo
Jul. 22 2010, 1:51 EST
|
Kuwait Gives Initial Nod for Oil Border ...
By Reuters
Jul. 20 2010, 4:38 EST
|
|
|
|
Two More Nuclear Reactors to be Built in...
By Nuclear Engineering International
Jul. 2 2010, 11:57 EST
|
U.S. Will Object to China, Pakistan Nucl...
By The Washington Post
Jun. 15 2010, 11:48 EST
|
China Wants More Dialogue on Iran Nuclea...
By AP
Jun. 10 2010, 8:59 EST
|
Iran Reactor Starts Up in August
By Reuters
May. 20 2010, 11:10 EST
|
US Calls Iran Nuclear Deal Positive Step
By Xinhua
May. 18 2010, 11:29 EST
|
Brazil to Build New Nuclear Reactor
By AFP
May. 6 2010, 10:31 EST
|
Iranian Leader Flies Into Nuclear Storm
By Rupert Cornwell
May. 3 2010, 11:43 EST
|
Zimbabwe Says No Uranium Deal With Iran
The Vancouver Sun
Apr. 27 2010, 8:16 EST
|
Italy, Russia Sign Nuclear Agreement
By People’s Daily
Apr. 27 2010, 8:13 EST
|
Australia Will Allow Exports of Uranium ...
By Marion Rae
Apr. 23 2010, 10:47 EST
|
Medvedev in Ukraine for Nuke Energy Deal
By Earth Times
Apr. 21 2010, 11:08 EST
|
Iran, Security Council Plan Nuclear Talk...
By Farhad Pouladi
Apr. 19 2010, 2:18 EST
|
|
|
|
Japanese Cut BHP Coal Prices
Sep. 2 2010, 5:17 EST
|
Kuwait, Saudi Plans Gas Facilities
Sep. 2 2010, 5:14 EST
|
Turkish Gas Sales Plunge
Sep. 2 2010, 1:00 EST
|
China, Russia Agree to Expansion
Sep. 2 2010, 1:00 EST
|
Qatar to Celebrates Achieving 77M
Sep. 2 2010, 1:00 EST
|
Gas Problem for Norway and Russia
Sep. 2 2010, 1:00 EST
|
Alaska’s Crude Output Drops 4.4 pct
Sep. 2 2010, 1:00 EST
|
China Plans Offshore Oil Expansion
Sep. 2 2010, 1:00 EST
|
Russia Holds Aug. Oil Output
Sep. 2 2010, 1:00 EST
|
PetroChina Discovers High Gas Flow
Sep. 1 2010, 1:03 EST
|
Poisonings Linked To Toxic Chemicals
Sep. 1 2010, 1:00 EST
|
Denver Mint To Coin New Approach
Sep. 1 2010, 1:00 EST
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
Japanese Cut BHP Coal Prices
Sep. 2 2010, 5:15 EST
[Read More]
|
 |
Kuwait, Saudi Plans Gas Facilities
Sep. 2 2010, 5:12 EST
[Read More]
|
 |
Turkish Gas Sales Plunge
Sep. 2 2010, 5:18 EST
[Read More]
|
 |
China, Russia Agree to Expansion
Sep. 2 2010, 5:16 EST
[Read More]
|
 |
Qatar to Celebrates Achieving 77M
Sep. 2 2010, 5:13 EST
[Read More]
|
 |
Gas Problem for Norway and Russia
Sep. 2 2010, 5:11 EST
[Read More]
|
 |
Alaska’s Crude Output Drops 4.4 pct
Sep. 2 2010, 5:10 EST
[Read More]
|
 |
China Plans Offshore Oil Expansion
Sep. 2 2010, 5:09 EST
[Read More]
|
 |
Russia Holds Aug. Oil Output
Sep. 2 2010, 5:07 EST
[Read More]
|
|
 |
|