Wind Power

Nicade Gokey, Zach Terzian, Zack Bloomer

US – $30 Billion in federal subsidies

NY- $160 Million to be spent this year alone

Current Investment In Wind Power

Increased capacity factor allows for most amount of

energy possible being produced while also decreasing costs

Rotor size has increased by 30 meters on GE's predominant turbines from 70 meters to 100

Breakthroughs in turbine control have led to being able to handle more turbine thrust than ever before

Now reliable manufacturing of gearbox compenents allows the wind industry to grow at a much quicker and more reliable rate allowing for more energy production

Recent Wind Tech

Manufacturing plants for wind turbine

gearboxes do highly accelerated lifetime testing on all designs to validate the designs reliability

Wind Tech Cont.

There are currently 149 large wind farms in

the US that have at least a 160 MW power generating capability

4 of which are operating and supplying power to New York

As well as 550+ manufacturing facilities for parts

Power Plants

In the US as a whole 4.44% of all electricity is

generated by solely wind power It is estimated that by the year 2030 20% of

all electricity in the US will be generated by wind alone

In the state of New York by itself about 2.6% of all electricity is generated by wind or enough to power 500,000 homes

Power Supplied

Fewer Subsidies Free fuel Price Stability – other forms of power such as

nuclear have a more variable cost due to mining and transportation costs that do not exist for wind

Creates jobs Supports Agriculture- Wind turbines can be

installed near farms or crops without interfering with people or livestock

Conserves and keeps water clean

Pros of Wind Power

Only produce electricity when wind is high Wind turbines are considered an eyesore Although turbines have become more and

more silent they still produce an audible sound that can be considered annoying 50-60dB

Transportation of large equipment can be costly

Construction of turbines can cause erosion and is expensive

Dangerous to birds

Cons

Turbines under 100kW cost roughly $8,000 per

kW A 10kW machine can cost $50000-$80000 to

install Smaller farms cost less overall but are more

expensive per kilowatt of energy producing Utility scale turbine can cost 1.3 million to 2.2

million per MW of nameplate capacity installed Price of wind power has dropped 43% over

past four years

Economic Factors

PTC ( production tax credit) expired late 2014

and has not yet been renewed for 2015 The PTC keeps energy costs low and

encourages development of new renewable energy projects

Over 70% of US congressional districts have either a wind project or wind related manufacturing facility which brings economic development to the region

Political

Works Cited "How Much Do Wind Turbines Cost?" Windustry. N.p.,

n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2015. "Not on My Beach, Please." The Economist. The

Economist Newspaper, 21 Aug. 2010. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.

"Pros & Cons of Wind Energy." Windustry. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.

"State Fact Sheets." State Fact Sheets. American Wind Energy Association, 2013. Web. 24 Apr. 2015.

"Wind Energy Pros and Cons - Energy Informative." Energy Informative. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.

Works Cited