.) Wind Power Generation Design [20 points]. a) Irvine has an annually average w
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.) Wind Power Generation Design [20 points]. a) Irvine has an annually average wind speed of 11.12 mph. Can you calculate the capacity factor of 5 MW wind turbine at a cut-off wind speed of 20 m/s? Please design how many of 5 MW turbine are required to replace the central plant? b.) What is the cost of energy for a turbine with the following assumptions (per turbine): $1,250/kw turbine cost $91,000 operations and maintenance cost /yr Fixed charge rate of 9% Balance of station costs of $1,999,999 Levelized replacement costs of $135,000/yr c) If a gearbox replacement (per turbine) was required every 5 years at a cost of S600,000 what would the COE be? How much (in percent) does the COE increase due to the gear box replacement?Explanation / Answer
ANSWER:-Wind Power Generation > n parallel, 11.4 gigawatts (GW) of the nation’s coal plant will be decommissioned by 2015 and 7GW of nuclear plant by 2020, or 23% of the total generating capacity connected to the grid. It is, therefore, essential, both for the reasons of energy security and CO2 reduction targets, that new low-carbon sources of electricity are deployed as soon as possible. But what will be the costs per megawatt hour (MWh) of electricity from these sources? This briefing sheet gives an estimate of costs of electricity generation for onshore and offshore wind compared to coal, gas and nuclear.In the case of wind energy, generation costs depend on wind speed, the cost of the plant, financing terms and operating costs. No single value can be assigned, therefore, to the cost of wind energy, and comparisons with other technologies can only work if all four parameters are taken into account, as, for instance, in figure 1.Here are some explanations of the terms used: generation costs are used here, in line with conventional usage. Strictly speaking, they are generation prices. Capital costs are primarily a function of the size of the installation (due to economies of scale), but location is also a factor, with the best sites (in terms of wind speed) often being more expensive, due to their remote locations.Wind speed depends solely on location, and financing terms depend partly on the institutional framework in the country where the plant is located, and partly on the policy of the developer. There is a direct relationship between mean wind speeds at a wind farm location, and wind farm capacity factors, as noted in the relevant section.Financing costs in this submission are derived using procedures that are in common use across the power industry. Real, i.e. net of inflation, interest rates (test discount rates) are used, with realistic capital repayment periods. They are therefore independent of any particular support mechanism.Wind generation costs can be compared with those of the thermal sources of electricity generation, using similar procedures and including the cost of the fuel for thermal generation. There are, of course, some differences due to the natures of the technologies, which will be highlighted in the appropriate section, such as, for instance, calculating (due to convention) operations and maintenance costs (O&M) per MWh in the case of thermal plant and per kilowatt (kW) per year in the case of onshore and offshore wind (see table 2).All generation costs are for new plant, built in 2010, although this does introduce a difficulty with nuclear plant, which is discussed in the relevant section.Current costsOnshore windInstalled costs Recent published installed costs for UK wind farms are in the range £1,250/kW to £1,573/kW, with a weighted mean of £1,334/kW. This suggests that Ofgem’s recent estimate of £1,200/kW is on the low side.1 The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) quote from a reportBy early 2011 the United Kingdom is forecast to reach 10% of its electricity consumption from renewables. The proportion is set to rise to around 30% by 2020, in line with EU 2020 targets and UK government plans on reducing carbon emissions.2 RenewableUK Fact Sheet 04 – Wind Energy Generationthey commissioned in 2009 that suggests the range is £1,172–1,329/kW.2 A ‘high’ estimate of £1,600/kW has been used here and a ‘low’ estimate of £1,300/kW, to define the range of generating costs.For the purpose of estimating interest during construction, a one-year build time has been assumed.Operation and maintenance costs Operation and maintenance costs are expressed in several ways. Several analyses express them in £/kW/yr, and reference 2 suggests a value of £40/kW/yr. This is close to the central estimate quoted by Ernst and Young (2007),3 which gives an upper limit of £54/kW/yr. This latter value has been used here. In practice, these costs are often a mixture of “fixed” costs (£/kW) and variable costs (£/MWh).Offshore windAlthough a number of projects were completed during 2009, there is not a large database of project costs. Recent and planned projects have been installed for between £2,000/kW and £4,000/kW.
when we compared to the recently reported costs for european wind farms,
which shows a range of costs from £2,500/kW to £3,600/kW
ecompasses that the generation costs of offshore is roughly double than the generation costs of onshore.Electricity production Although wind turbines have differing performance characteristics, the variations – taking account of size – are not that wide, and it is possible to derive a “universal” characteristic that describes the variation of output with wind speed. The “capacity factor” (average power/ rated power) is the conventional term used to quantify the output. It establishes a link between wind speed and energy productivity. The data presented here assumes that the capacity factor is 19% at sites with an annual mean wind speed of 6m/s, rising to just under 40% at 9 m/s. Most UK wind farm sites have wind speeds within this range, although the resource at the upper end of the range is limited. These capacity factors include allowances for availability, inter-machine array losses, and electrical losses within the wind farm.Generation costs of gas-fired plantInstalled and operating costs The generation costs of combined cycle gas turbines tend to be the yardstick against which other technologies are compared. The principal uncertainty in determining these is the future cost of gas, as fuel accounts for about two-thirds of the total generation cost.Recent reports of completed UK CCGT contracts suggests capital costs are in the range of £600–700/kW. A mid-range value of £650/kW has been used here. Build times are around two years. Estimates of operation and maintenance costs are mostly around £4/MWh.Fuel costs The average price paid by UK power producers for gas in 2009 was £14/MWh.6 Assuming a build time of two years, thermal efficiency of 50% and availability of 85%, this enables generation costs to be derived. Future gasfired generation costs are uncertain, simply because of the uncertainties in the price of gas.Unassuming changes which occured on installed costs will make a very little difference to the generating cost estimates.
Both Ofgem (ref 1) and the Department of Energy and Climate Change7 suggest power producers could be paying
around £20/MWh for gas by 2015; less in some scenarios, considerably more in others.Costs of coal-fired plantThere has been little activity in the coal-fired generation market in the UK recently, but reference to the international literature suggests capital costs for coal-fired generation are mostly in the range of £1,500–1,800/kW.8 Coal-fired plant take around four years to build, and operation and maintenance costs are in the range of £6–8/MWh. The average cost of fuel in the UK in 2009 was £7.5/MWh. As in the case of gas, future projections of fuel costs vary, but most are in the range from £7.5/MWh upwards, although
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