Consider the construction of a wind farm composed of 100 wind turbines each with a rated capacity of 2 MW at a rated wind speed of 14 m/s. The turbines have an installed cost of $3000/kW, including the cost of land, and require an operations and maintenance cost of $0.02/kWh. The government, however, provides a $0.022/kWh wind energy subsidy. Assume the wind farm has a capacity factor of 30% and the wind turbines have a power coefficient (coefficient of performance) of 47% and a gearbox/generator efficiency of 94%. The turbine set on a rectangular spacing of 5d x 10d where d is the rotor diameter of the individual turbines, to ensure the effects of downstream wakes are minimized. Assume a transmission efficiency and cost of 98% and $0.01/kWh, respectively. Assume the wind turbines have a 15 yr life expectancy and an 11% discount rate. The density of air is 1.225 kg/m3.
a. How much electricity is the wind farm expected to generate annually (GWh/y)?
b. What is the rotor diameter of the wind turbines (m)?
c. How much land is required (km2)?
d. What is the expected levelized cost of electricity generated by the wind farm ($/kWh)?