A MW of intermittent offshore wind power capacity costs up to 17 times the cost of a thoroughly reliable MW of gas-fired power generation. And, whereas, the latter is available around-the-clock, the former is available when Mother Nature deems fit. And she tends to be a temperamental, old cow.
One particular wheeze among Britain’s renewable energy rent seekers, is to float wind turbines on pontoons and anchor them to the seafloor.
At first blush, this was meant to reduce the capital cost of running these things offshore. However, as Andrew Montford details below, the reverse is true.
A standard offshore turbine has a per MW capital cost of around 5 to 6 times that of gas-fired power. But – according to the figures produced by one floating wind farm operator, the capital costs ratio per MW for floating wind turbines is a mind-boggling 17 times that of a gas-fired turbine…
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