Wind Power
Facts and Figures
- Wind power produced 0.44% of the U.S. electricity supply in 2005 (Energy Information Administration);
- Wind farms currently produce power at a cost of 6-9 cents per kilowatt hour;
- Wind power production capacity increased 27% in 2006, with a similar increase expected in 2007 (American Wind Energy Association);
- 2/3 of worldwide wind production capacity is located in Europe.
Cost of Increased Use 8
While wind power installations are price competitive, the cost of adding additional electricity transmission infrastructure is very high.
Environmental Impact 2
Wind power is a very clean source of energy, with the only potential drawback being disruption to wildlife on-site.
National Security 1
No national security issues appear to arise due to the use of wind power.
Implementation 5
Depending on location, wind power is a good near term option.
Political Toxicity 3
While the transmission infrastructure issue is rarely addressed, wind power appears to be politically popular.
Pros of Use
- Wind power is environmentally friendly and sustainable;
- A wind farm put into service in 2015 is expected to cost 5.58 cents per kilowatt hour – similar pricing to coal-fired power plants (Energy Information Administration).
Cons of Use
- Areas of greatest wind power generation are not well aligned with load centers in the U.S., creating the need for expensive power distribution infrastructure enhancements;
- Wind power is not consistently reliable – if the wind is not blowing, no power is generated, causing utility companies to build traditional fossil fuel plants to ensure consistent supplies. More consistent energy production from wind would necessitate the development of greater wind energy storage and distribution systems.
Barriers to Future Use
- The cost of upgrading the national electric grid to pipe wind power from high quality source locations to load centers is billions of dollars (power line infrastructure in general is estimated to cost $2.3 million per mile by many experts);
- Equipment prices are currently higher due to a shortage of wind turbines.
Incentives/Technology Breakthroughs Needed
- Storage mechanisms need to be developed to increase the reliability of wind power and create confidence in a consistent level of power for utility planners;
- If the U.S. is committed to wind power as a significant national energy portfolio source, multi-billion dollar infrastructure projects are required – Government subsidies, taxpayers, and/or utility rate payers are options for this needed revenue;
- Incentives need to properly value wind energy by monetarily acknowledging the avoidance of fossil fuel use;
- The on-again, off-again federal production tax credit is currently available to wind energy producers. To stimulate more reliable wind energy investment, federal production tax credits must become more reliable so industry can depend on them.
Most Important Fact
Large capital investments in electricity transmission infrastructure will be needed to pipe wind power from prime sources to load centers.
Bottom Line
Committing to wind power on a large scale would require expensive power distribution infrastructure enhancements, and most likely a means to store wind power so that it is a more consistent source. Smaller scale implementations could be designed to provide intermittent power locally, but would provide much less impact on the national energy portfolio.
