Wind farm turbines wear sooner than expected, says study

[OnlinePoker]

Britain’s wind farms are wearing out far more rapidly than previously thought, making them more expensive as a result, according to an authoritative new study.

The analysis of almost 3,000 onshore wind turbines — the biggest study of its kind —warns that they will continue to generate electricity effectively for just 12 to 15 years.

The wind energy industry and the Government base all their calculations on turbines enjoying a lifespan of 20 to 25 years.

The study estimates that routine wear and tear will more than double the cost of electricity being produced by wind farms in the next decade.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/energy/windpower/9770837/Wind-farm-turbines-wear-sooner-than-expected-says-study.html

[Tech]

1. The telegraph, A little right leaning.

I googled Mr Hughes, a must in this day and age. He is an economics prof, nothing wrong with that. Authoritative new study? Could not find the source of the study. He has worked for World Bank, saw a previous article staying how expensive wind power is. Just call me a little skeptical.

[Basic LA]

2. Great fact-check.

Succinct & thorough. Thanks!

[NNadir]

5. On the other hand, rather than cast doubt on Dr. Hughes and his competence...

...along with a "skeptical" suggestion of bias, one could simply look at existing and readily available public data.

I did this earlier this year, and published the results here in this space, including links to the direct sources, in this case the Danish Energy Agency's wind turbine database, which records data for every single wind turbine ever built in that offshore oil and gas drilling climate hellhole of a nation.

My post is here: Average Lifetime of Danish Wind Turbines, as of February 2018.

The Danes built, as of February 2018, 9,452 wind turbines. Of these, 6,220 were still operating in February of 2018, and 3,232 had been decommissioned. Of the decommissioned turbines, the average lifetime was 17.77 years, or 17 years and 283 days.

The data which anyone who cares can access at any time if they're not too lazy to look, is not particularly different than what Dr. Hughes is reportedly offering for British wind turbines.

We bet the planetary atmosphere on this shit. It didn't work.

The rote knee jerk defense of the useless wind industry, which is nothing more than a marketing front for the gas industry is part of the reason that carbon dioxide concentrations in the planetary atmosphere are rising at the fastest rate ever observed.

All the wind turbines on this planet combined with all the solar cells on this planet do not produce even 11 exajoules of the 584.98 exajoules of energy humanity is consuming. We squandered trillions of dollars on this useless crap and still they are doing nothing.

If it were left to me - and it's not - I'd rather that we fucking wake up rather than cast aspersions on minor academics being cited by scientifically illiterate journalists.

The wind industry, since it's soaked the planet for considerably more than one trillion dollars for no measurable result, is a crime against all future generations.

[Finishline42]

6. As Mark Twain once said Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics.

Just look at the size of the windmills that were decommissioned, almost all were very small with very low output.

The data you referenced also doesn't say why they were decommissioned. Further, it doesn't state if they were replaced either.

Every time power is being used from windmills and solar panels drives up the cost for coal, nuclear and nat gas plants. At the same time the cost of new solar and wind is going down.

One thing your penchant for numbers ignores is how much capacity is being maintained on idle waiting for grid need. Utilities are finding that batteries provide this function quicker and cheaper.

[hunter]

3. Wind turbines are the flowers the gas industry buys you...

... after he's hurt you.

[Finishline42]

4. The reason most windmills get replaced early is bigger and more efficient models

The #1 fact about windmills is that when you double the swept diameter of the blades you cube the output, so bigger is significantly better.

There comes a time when investing in a new and bigger model makes the investment worthwhile.