Xcel finally moves: promises 775MW more wind by 07

[skids]

Looks like Xcel is finally going to bite the bullet and make moves to get people off that wind power wait list that suddenly filled up this year.

Denver, Colorado Xcel Energy will acquire 775 MW of new wind power capacity for its Colorado system by 2007, in response to a process designed to address the state's growing energy demand. The additional capacity is said to make Xcel Energy the nation's largest utility user of wind power.

...

Xcel Energy -- which currently has 282 MW of wind in-service or under-construction in Colorado -- would increase its overall wind capacity in the state by 275 percent. Xcel Energy estimates that it also would meet the non-solar mandates of the voter-approved Renewable Energy Standard through 2014, essentially meeting the standard seven years earlier than required.

...

The company intends to acquire up to 30 MW of energy efficiency supplied by bidders, known as Demand-Side Management (DSM). Xcel Energy has committed $196 million in company-sponsored initiatives for the remainder of the DSM program, which would be an additional 290 MW. Xcel Energy also intends to acquire approximately 1,300 MW of natural gas-fired generation from new and existing facilities between 2007 and 2012.

http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=41026

Now that's a promise to "acquire" which leaves them the out of buying it from out of state. However it does appear that they are looking to do builds.

[Sparkman]

1. What's the onesy twosy cost of a giant wind generation tower? kick this

[skids]

2. Depends on a lot of stuff, but it's falling.

...oddly enough, while demand is climbing and backorder levels are high. Partly due to China:

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/13415811.htm

I'm sure Hull Wind will post the financials of the new 1.6MW they are putting in next month; that might give a good indicator.

http://hullwind.org

[Sparkman]

3. Hull's 660MW turned "profitable" after 3 yrs@$0.08/kwh. thanks!

From the Hull websit, June 2004 posting:

Here's a back-of-envelope way of sizing this up, and getting a handle on the approximate economics. Suppose (which is accurate) the value to us at the Light Department of each of those KWh's is what we'd otherwise have paid for it on the open market - 8 cents. Suppose further that such extra costs as normally come along (insurance, warranty/maintenance, allowance for money-overhead) are things we can recover via the pair of 'bonus' payments, i.e. the REPI's and the REC's. Then we have realised somewhere over $320,000 to put against our $735,000 total investment. It should be halfway to being entirely paid back before the end of its third year, at this rate
People have been talking a lot recently about one of our favorite concepts here at Hullwind: Capacity Factor. It's like a batting average. A hitter who says "I'm hitting 281" means that you can expect him to get a hit 281 times in every 1000 at-bats. This is the same as 28.1 percent of the total at-bats. A turbine that can say "my CF is 28.1 %" is basing its claim on its particular rated maximum power, in our case 660 KW. This means you can easily calculate an average-power number for us just multiplying 0.281 times our 660.

We've averaged a little over 185 KW, on a 24/7 basis (no 'holidays', not a minute left out of account, not even the hours of preventive maintenance!). The clock started at 14:45 EST on 27 Dec, 2001, so as of today we've been running 899 days. If we can get keep up a pace not less than 27.5 % (summer will be weak, but fall strong), we'll get to the final day of our first 3 years with 4,770,000 KWh's. Let's hope for a very strong fall and a not-so-weak summer!

sic
They have 6.6MWH logged to date!