These things are huge with a rotor diameter of 126 m and a hub height of 92 m. The project cost €250 million and delivers 60MW. This sounds really expensive and results in a capital cost of €4167/kW, but surprisingly this doesn't compare too badly to
some recent nuclear projects estimated between $3376/kW to $8071/kW.
However China is currently planning it's future nuclear plants will produce at $1000/kW which is very favorable.
These are only capital cost and I don't know how much the upkeep of offshore windmills or nuclear costs. And of course this doesn't factor in the intermittent power produced by wind, which would need expensive storage systems to be able to provide base-load power. At least they are impressive to look at.
On the factor of safety windmills aren't as benign as is sometimes assumed, resulting in
66 worker fatalities since the 70s.
Other fun things that can happen to windmills are:
172 instances of blade failure
Pieces of blade are documented as travelling up to 1300 meters. In Germany, blade pieces have gone through the roofs and walls of nearby buildings. (
Video)
139 fire incidents
84 instances of structural failure
30 incidents of ice throw, travelling up to 140m
These things are huge with a rotor diameter of 126 m and a hub height of 92 m. The project cost €250 million and delivers 60MW. This sounds really expensive and results in a capital cost of €4167/kW, but surprisingly this doesn't compare too badly to some recent nuclear projects estimated between $3376/kW to $8071/kW.
However China is currently planning it's future nuclear plants will produce at $1000/kW which is very favorable.
These are only capital cost and I don't know how much the upkeep of offshore windmills or nuclear costs. And of course this doesn't factor in the intermittent power produced by wind, which would need expensive storage systems to be able to provide base-load power. At least they are impressive to look at.
On the factor of safety windmills aren't as benign as is sometimes assumed, resulting in 66 worker fatalities since the 70s.
Other fun things that can happen to windmills are:
172 instances of blade failure
Pieces of blade are documented as travelling up to 1300 meters. In Germany, blade pieces have gone through the roofs and walls of nearby buildings. (Video)
139 fire incidents
84 instances of structural failure
30 incidents of ice throw, travelling up to 140m
Awesome! Those blades are about the length of 747 wings.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how much they will actually produce. They suck when there is no wind or too much wind.
Maintenance is also very expensive at sea. Still a great project. I hope they will actually make it to 25GW in 2030, as they plan on their website.
Also great that China is finally mass producing nuclear power plants.