Skull Pilot
Diamond Member
- Nov 17, 2007
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What is important is the cost per kw/hr.
Cost of Wind vs. Fossil Fuels - MEIC
Cost of Wind vs. Fossil Fuels
In Montana, wind energy is cost-competitive with fossil fuels, especially coal. In fact, wind energy is less much less expensive than coal for customers of NorthWestern Energy – the state’s largest utility. The graph below comes from data from the Montana Public Service Commission and it compares the costs of various resources in NorthWestern’s portfolio. The Judith Gap wind facility is about $32.11 per megawatt-hour (or 3.1 cents per kilowatt-hour) while the coal-fired Colstrip Unit 4 is about $64.55 per megawatt-hour or (6.4 cents per kilowatt hour).
Wind power in Montana is less than half the price of coal generated power. So who cares if the wind towers are only putting out a fraction of their rated power, if that fraction is cheaper electricity per kw/hr.
What are the government subsidies and what happens when they go away?
And the point is that you have to install 4 times as many windmills to get the installed capacity to equal power output until wind is operating at 90% rated capacity it will never be as reliable as other power sources