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Darke County Issues…
Wind Farms, Part 2
By Al Bliss
Questions for Darke County... WIND FARMS???? And next...
SCHOOLS????
Continued from Wind Farms, Part
1
The ability of the Ohio State Government to fund a multimillion dollar
project at the same time that the State is experiencing an eight
billion dollar shortfall in the biannual budget should be taken into
consideration. The Federal Funds require currently borrowing at least
forty one cents for every dollar used. Should Darke County ignore these
two facts?
Based on the what has occurred elsewhere, (and that includes places in
the United States) an alternate energy source would still be very
desirable in Darke County if the project could achieve a typically
targeted financial recovery of investment in seven to ten years. With
this goal in mind and no subsidy included in the project, do you want
to invest in a Darke County alternate energy project??
“The Rule of 72. If you divide the number 72 by the rate of return on
your investments, the answer is the number of years it will take to
double your money. If you are getting 7% annually then 72 divided by 7
equals a little over 10 so it takes 10 years to double. A 9% return
divided into 72 gives us an 8-year time span to double. A 10% return
needs only 7 years to double.”
Assuming that the rule of 72 is based on fact, then a wind farm of 130
units involving between 650 and 1300 acres would require how many years
of normal operation to recover the original cost of the project?? The
answer depends on what normal operation means. For example, if the
units are expected to operate at full load 30% of the time and full
load means 1.5 Mwh time 130 units times .3 times cost per kwh of $0.096
1.5 X 106 wh X 130 units X .3 X .096 dollars/103 wh = $5616
compared to the cost per unit of $1,000,000 (used only for convenience,
based on an early estimate) would take about 176 years. I guess the
subsidy is really necessary if this calculation is correct. Please let
me know the correct operational duration to achieve balance between
initial financial commitment and payment for electricity produced.
What conclusion or conclusions should be reached or are expected from
the information presented?
• The land owner signing a contract for installation
of a single unit should anticipate periods during construction and
demolition of in excess of the footprint of the unit. The actual
amount is at best a guess based on previous experience versus detailed
calculations of the property to be used.
• The project developer depends on State and Federal
funds as well as the continued ability of the Utility Company to comply
with contract terms -- therefore, hoped for payment to the
property owner, schools and investors is a gamble.
• The Health impact and the ability to live in the
immediate vicinity of a unit can easily be discovered by interacting
with existing wind farm sites.
• The reliability of the electrical generators over
time is a factor being recorded now in many countries and to date is
being determined.
• The environmental impact is unique when the wind
farm expectations to reduce the Utility use of coal or other means to
generate base load are considered. Why, because the wind farm is
an intermittent power source, so the rolling reserve must be keep on
line during wind farm power generation if the customer is to have
electricity available at all times.
• If the State and Federal budgets continue as they
were planned and if the economy stays as it is or improves, and if each
person in Darke County wants to use a subsidy paid by taxpayers outside
of Darke County, then continued effort to bring a wind farm to our
County should be stressed.
It would appear that this document is opposed to alternate energy
sources. Alternate energy must be developed and used in the very near
future as a real balance to current energy sources. The Federal
Government through the Department of Energy has been funding clean coal
research since the late 1970s. In parallel with this US effort, Brazil
has transitioned through ethanol (now virtually an historical item) to
bio-fuels. Energy sources such as nuclear have been used but not built
since the 1970s and 1980s. The graph and table below shows the current
status of one unit under construction and nine units planned. The
impact of the Japanese nuclear plant failure because of an earth quake
and resulting tsunami has not been quantified but is expected to be
significant.
If your neighbor (a good guy with a couple kids) is laid off and needs
some help while he looks for a job, what would you do? When you are
considering helping your neighbor, you are asked to send money to a
fund in Columbus so that State Government can finance a project in
Cleveland, what would you do?? When you are considering these two
places to put some of your money, the Federal Government lets you know
that China and Japan will not lend any more money to the US and you are
to send more money to Washington D.C. for Federal projects. What
would you do??
Next time expect facts and questions about Darke County Schools.
Al Bliss
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