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It's amazing how this stuff just keeps getting pumped out by well-greased "right of centre" think tanks. This particular model of tank, the Center for Policy Studies, was co-founded by Maggie Thatcher and follows the neoliberal line. I still find it hilarious for small state and free market types talking up nuclear power which would not, and could not exist, without the insertion of the large state and massive public subsidies.
Maybe things are just a lot different in Europe than in the USA. I kind of doubt that the economics are worse there given the cheapness of electricity in the States. Granted, the wind isn't quite what we have over here and that doesn't help.
Wind farm installation and manufacturing in the USA are still going gangbusters IN SPITE of a current lapse in the renewable production tax credit (PTC). Of course, if they don't pass a new PTC that could change over time but for the time being it's still cruising along nicely. The change in exchange rates for manufacturing doesn't hurt either. One benefit from W's trashing of our economy.
Wind Turbines Are 'Unreliable and Will Cost Each Home £4,000' Claims Think Tank - Daily Mail - 24 Jun 08
"The Government's plan to build thousands of new wind turbines across Britain is misguided, doomed to failure and will cost every household at least £4,000, a new report claims. Rather than trying to solve the UK's energy crisis by investing in wind power, ministers should focus on tidal energy, clean coal and nuclear power, it says."
"Turbines are also expensive. The Royal Academy of Engineering estimates that wind energy is two and a half times more costly than other forms of non- oil and gas electricity generation, according to the report Wind Chill: Why Wind Energy Will Not Fill the UK's Energy Gap. The shift to renewables could cost £100 million - or £4,000 for every household in the country, it adds."
As it turns out, the Royal Academy of Engineering report noted is a relatively ancient one published in 2004 and probably based on even older data. Funny they couldn't find something a bit more timely to reference. More than a few power engineering circles, typically as conservative in terms of political economics as the Thatcherites (if not more so) in my experience, seem to have what David Freeman would probably call "nuclearholic" syndrome.
Wind Power Suffers Blow - Guardian (UK) - 10 Mar 04
"According to research carried out by the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE), the cheapest electricity, costing just 2.3 pence per unit, will be generated from gas turbines and nuclear power stations, compared with 3.7p for onshore wind and 5.5p for offshore. The Academy also emphasised the need to provide backup for wind energy to cover periods when the wind doesn't blow. The study assumed the need for about 65% backup from conventional sources, adding 1.7p to the cost of wind power, bringing its price up to two and a half times that of gas or nuclear power."
"The British Wind Energy Association, who last year gave full backing to the government's wind, questioned the reliability of the data which the RAE used: 'BWEA assumes that the figures quoted for nuclear power are based upon reactors that are yet to be built and is not aware of any market experience that proves the costs claimed by the Royal Academy of Engineering,' it said."
In the meanwhile, back in the real world . . .
Weststar Breaking Ground on Wind Energy - KSN.com - 25 Jun 08
"Westar Energy broke ground Tuesday afternoon on the first of three new wind farms in a project worth at least $500 million dollars.
Wind Turbine Part Plant to Employ 355 in Chicago Suburb - Chicago Tribune - 24 Jun 08
"A Georgia-based company says it will open a plant employing 355 workers in the Chicago suburb of Elgin to produce wind turbine gear drivers. A groundbreaking is planned Wednesday for the Siemens Energy and Automation facility. The new plant will cost $20 million and will be in addition to another plant in Elgin that the company runs, employing 150 workers."
Maybe things are just a lot different in Europe than in the USA. I kind of doubt that the economics are worse there given the cheapness of electricity in the States. Granted, the wind isn't quite what we have over here and that doesn't help.
Wind farm installation and manufacturing in the USA are still going gangbusters IN SPITE of a current lapse in the renewable production tax credit (PTC). Of course, if they don't pass a new PTC that could change over time but for the time being it's still cruising along nicely. The change in exchange rates for manufacturing doesn't hurt either. One benefit from W's trashing of our economy.
Wind Turbines Are 'Unreliable and Will Cost Each Home £4,000' Claims Think Tank - Daily Mail - 24 Jun 08
"The Government's plan to build thousands of new wind turbines across Britain is misguided, doomed to failure and will cost every household at least £4,000, a new report claims. Rather than trying to solve the UK's energy crisis by investing in wind power, ministers should focus on tidal energy, clean coal and nuclear power, it says."
"Turbines are also expensive. The Royal Academy of Engineering estimates that wind energy is two and a half times more costly than other forms of non- oil and gas electricity generation, according to the report Wind Chill: Why Wind Energy Will Not Fill the UK's Energy Gap. The shift to renewables could cost £100 million - or £4,000 for every household in the country, it adds."
As it turns out, the Royal Academy of Engineering report noted is a relatively ancient one published in 2004 and probably based on even older data. Funny they couldn't find something a bit more timely to reference. More than a few power engineering circles, typically as conservative in terms of political economics as the Thatcherites (if not more so) in my experience, seem to have what David Freeman would probably call "nuclearholic" syndrome.
Wind Power Suffers Blow - Guardian (UK) - 10 Mar 04
"According to research carried out by the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE), the cheapest electricity, costing just 2.3 pence per unit, will be generated from gas turbines and nuclear power stations, compared with 3.7p for onshore wind and 5.5p for offshore. The Academy also emphasised the need to provide backup for wind energy to cover periods when the wind doesn't blow. The study assumed the need for about 65% backup from conventional sources, adding 1.7p to the cost of wind power, bringing its price up to two and a half times that of gas or nuclear power."
"The British Wind Energy Association, who last year gave full backing to the government's wind, questioned the reliability of the data which the RAE used: 'BWEA assumes that the figures quoted for nuclear power are based upon reactors that are yet to be built and is not aware of any market experience that proves the costs claimed by the Royal Academy of Engineering,' it said."
In the meanwhile, back in the real world . . .
Weststar Breaking Ground on Wind Energy - KSN.com - 25 Jun 08
"Westar Energy broke ground Tuesday afternoon on the first of three new wind farms in a project worth at least $500 million dollars.
Wind Turbine Part Plant to Employ 355 in Chicago Suburb - Chicago Tribune - 24 Jun 08
"A Georgia-based company says it will open a plant employing 355 workers in the Chicago suburb of Elgin to produce wind turbine gear drivers. A groundbreaking is planned Wednesday for the Siemens Energy and Automation facility. The new plant will cost $20 million and will be in addition to another plant in Elgin that the company runs, employing 150 workers."
