Cheap Winds

The upcoming "Stateline Wind Farm" on the border of the US states Washington and Oregon will produce power at a record low price of 2.5 cents/kWh.

The 300 MW project will receive US federal wind energy production tax credits. Without these credits, the production price would be 3.2 cents/kWh, -still a very low price for clean electricity, as the price accounts for all costs, including payments for the land owners, maintenance, etc.

While the record-low price is based on cost reductions of windturbines, the project is also placed on a very good site. Other new windpower developments have production costs in the range of 3-6 cents/kWh. In some cases, consumers could get cheaper electricity if parts of their supply would come from windturbines: in a recent ruling, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission required a power company to include a 162-MW windfarm in its developments, simply because this would provide cheaper power to the consumers.

Because of the low costs and of the US federal wind energy production tax credit, windpower development might reach a new record in the US this year, while last year the development was a meagre 53 MW.

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Photo by Neg-Micom

Sources: REAccess News 20/3-01, www.solaraccess.com/sanews and the American Wind Energy Association, www.awea.org.