LePage’s energy czar questions offshore wind plan
LePage’s energy czar questions offshore wind plan
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Comment by Willem Post on September 14, 2012 at 10:57pm
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Here we have a first-rate scam.
Four 3 MW wind turbines, a total of 12 MW which will produce about 12 MW x 8,760 hr/yr x Annual capacity factor 0.32 = 33,638,400 kWh/yr, a very small percentage of Maine's annual consumption.The capital cost will be at least $54 million, about $4,500/kW.Statoil will be held harmless by means of the three major utilities buying the entire output from Statoil at $0.29c/kWh, what they could be buying from the grid at 0.05c/kWh, a price that has not changed for 3 years.The extra costs to rate payers would be about $200 million over 20 years, whereas the benefits to Maine's economy would be about $63 million over 20 years.Here are a few more such scams:Cape Wind and Other Offshore Wind FacilitiesCape Wind Associates, LLC, plans to build and operate a wind facility on the Outer Continental Shelf offshore of Massachusetts. The wind facility would have a rated capacity of 468 MW consisting of 130 Siemens AG turbines each 3.6 MW, maximum blade height 440 feet, to be arranged in a grid pattern in 25 square miles of Nantucket Sound in federal waters off Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket Island; the lease is for 46 square miles which includes a buffer zone.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities approved a 15-yr power purchase agreement, PPA, between the utility National Grid and Cape Wind Associates, LLC. National Grid agreed to buy 50% of the wind facility’s power starting at $0.187/kWh in 2013 (base year), escalating at 3.5%/yr which means the 2028 price to the utility will be $0.313/kWh. The project is currently trying to sell the other 50% of its power so financing can proceed; so far no takers.
A household using 618 kWh/month will see an average wind power surcharge of about $1.50 on its monthly electric bill over the 15 year life of the contract; if the other 50% of power is sold on the same basis, it may add another $1.50 to that monthly bill.
Power production is estimated at 468 MW x 8,760 hr/yr x CF 0.39 = 1.6 GWh/yr.
The capital cost is estimated at $2.0 billion, or $4,274/kW. Federal subsidies would be 30% as a grant.
The 28.4 MW Block Island Offshore Wind Project has a 20-yr PPA starting at $0.235/kWh in 2007 (base year), escalating at 3.5%/yr which means the 2027 price to the utility will be $0.468/kWh. A State of Rhode Island suit is pending to overturn the contract; the aim is to negotiate to obtain a lower price.
Power production is estimated at 28.4 MW x 8,760 hr/yr x CF 0.39 = 0.097 GWh/yr.
Capital cost is estimated at $121 million, or $4,274/kW. Federal subsidies would be 30% as a grant.
The 200 MW Delaware Offshore Wind Project has a 25-year PPA starting at $0.0999/kWh in 2007 (base year), escalating at 2.5%/yr which means the 2032 price to the utility will be $0.185/kWh.
Power production is estimated at 200 MW x 8,760 hr/yr x CF 0.39 = 0.68 GWh/yr.
Capital cost is estimated at $855 million, or $4,274/kW. Federal subsidies would be 30% as a grant.
For comparison: TransCanada Power which owns the 132 MW Kibby Mountain Wind Facility in Maine has a 10-yr PPA with NStar, an electric utility, at a flat $0.105/kWh, plus the associated renewable energy certificates.
Power production is estimated at 132 MW x 8,760 hr/yr x CF 0.31 = 0.357 GWh/yr.
Capital cost is estimated at $320 million, or $2,424/kW.
The above PPA prices cannot be directly compared because they are influenced by factors other than generating costs. See pg 119 of the NREL website.
The 1,000 MW Deep Water Wind Project with 500 ft tall wind turbines @ 5-6 MW each is proposed to be located in Long Island Sound. Power is expected to be sold “in the mid teens”, i.e., at about $0.15/kWh.
Production is estimated at 1,000 MW x 1,000 kW/MW x 8,760 hr/yr x CF 0.40 = 3.5 GWh/yr.
Capital cost, with interconnects to existing grids, is estimated at 4.5-5.5 billion dollars.
For comparison: Production by 471 MW of CCGTs: 471 MW x 1,000 kW/MW x 8,760 hr/yr x CF 0.85 = 3.5 billion kWh/yr.
Capital cost: 471 MW x $1,250/kW = $589 million.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/wind-facility-would-link-...
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101123/...
http://www.brighterenergy.org/15568/news/wind/rhode-island-offshore...
http://theenergycollective.com/brighterenergy/47584/america-moves-s...
http://www.env.state.ma.us/dpu/docs/electric/10-54/73010tntst.pdf
http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy10osti/40745.pdf
http://www.coalitionforenergysolutions.org/maine_wind_facilities.pdf
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Wanted-Buyer-for-apf-120662485.html?x...
Maine as Third World Country:
CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power
Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.
Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT
******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********
(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/
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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law
Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future
"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."
https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/
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