Article by James Wills
Large commercial-scale Wind Power turbines can cost several million dollars. However, smaller residential-scale turbines can be bought for ,000 or more. In addition, you would also have to bear operational costs including maintenance and replacements.
Wind turbines are made in different shapes and sizes. The following guideline will tell you what they can cost and how it would impact the price of Wind Power. The cost of installation of a commercial-scale turbine would depend on different factors like:
• Financing costs
• The time of executing the turbine buying agreement
• Construction contracts
• The type of turbine
• The project location
Cost Components
The cost components for any Wind Power project would include:
• Price of the turbines and tower
• Freight costs
• Expenses for site analysis and wind resource evaluation
• Permit studies
• Interconnection evaluation
• Utility system upgrade
• Cost of protection
• Cost of transformers
• Cost of metering equipment
• Warranty
• Maintenance cost
And, many more factors like insurance, operations cost and legal fees. The magnitude of the entire project and the taxes would also have to be taken into account.
Costs in Figures
The price of a commercial-grade wind turbine would range between .2 million and .6 million for each MW of Wind Power capacity. However, today majority of the commercial-grade wind turbines have a capacity of 2 MW and they price around .5 million for one unit.
Economies of Scale
You must not get disappointed from the figures mentioned above. The economies of scale in Wind Power can be too vast. The small-sized wind farms or even residential turbines are going to cost much less. However, you would have to bear higher per kW of the capacity. So, if you install a wind turbine below 100 kW, it would price between ,000 and ,000 per kW of Wind Turbine capacity. An average household would require a 10 kW turbine and it would cost you minimum ,000.
• A roof-mounted micro-wind Wind Power system would cost you around ,200
• A pole-mounted 2.5 kW system would price around ,000
• A pole-mounted 6 kW system would price around ,000
Maintenance
Maintenance is also a significant part of the operational cost of Wind turbines. Based upon the size of the turbine, it would range from 0 to 0 per year. A turbine maintained properly can last for more than 2 decades. However, the inverter can need replacement within this time and it can cost around ,500 to ,000 for a large-sized system.
About the Author
Do you want to find out the companies producing Wind Power turbines and want to know the price of the machines they are offering. Use this link to get detailed information.
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