Are Wind Turbines Worth the Investment?: A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Wind Turbines
Hannah Burkhardt, Virginia Tech
Among alternative energy strategies, wind energy evokes some of the most contradictory public opinion. Some concerns include interrupted scenic views, the potential for noise, impacts on wildlife, burdens on the community, or the cost. Decision-makers must consider how their constituents and future consumers will feel. In this article, I want to focus on the latter topic of that list: the cost-benefit analysis of wind energy. I will explore current costs regarding construction, consumer costs, and more, along with their benefits to local communities.
Before we begin, let’s investigate some essential vocabulary in how power or energy is measured in kilowatts (kW or 1000 Watts), megawatts (MW or 1 million Watts), and gigawatt (GW or 1 billion Watts). Figure 1. provides a useful representation of energy sources.
Figure 1. Units of energy and everyday examples
Currently, the industry is at a strange point where vast amounts of turbines are being decommissioned. This is due to the massive push made roughly twenty years for more renewable energy, which causes a lot of wind turbines to be installed. While finding an unbiased statistic for removal was difficult, Xcel Energy offered an estimate similar to other findings. They claim it would take $532,000 to fully decommission each of their land-based wind turbines, though they maintain that this is conservative (TMR),
