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As long as there is a decent energy efficiency of the wind, like 50% power produced for what was gained, then as long as the windmill ran enough years, possibly 5, without major upkeep, then it would be efficient. The bigger the windmill, the more expensive the cost, but the more power that is produced.
It all lies in the efficiency of the windmill itself.
how big are we talking and how much power in KwH are you expecting it to produce?
Ie what size Generator do you plan to have it turn? 1MW? 2MW? 500KW?
What type of battery or Power storage systems do you need when there is no wind and it is not producing any power?
when you are making more power than you need or can store do you plan to sell off excess power to the main grid?
No one is storing wind power, at least not commercially. There are experimental storage ideas, but they are all even more costly then the already expensive reality of wind power.
Add to this, that wind power is so erratic and unpredictable, that we probably add more carbon emissions from fossil fuel power generation.
A steam power plant wastes a lot of power while it ramps up for low wind power demands. These fossil fuel plants work less efficiently at lower power demands, which they are forced to do during the erratic periods of high winds, then they ramp up power when the winds dies down again, rinse, repeat.
Energy is power X time. the energy benefit of any device is dependent on how long it operates compared with how much energy (proportional to cost) went into building it.
Most parts of the "grid" already have hydroelectric energy storage integrated into the system. That is how they time distribute the power available from big coal fired units operating at full power 24 hrs per day providing energy into a varying load.
Average ROI in energy cost is about 2500%, which is actually fairly competitive. It is of course possible to erect a wind turbine in an unsuitable spot and get a negative ROI.
Energy is power X time. the energy benefit of any device is dependent on how long it operates compared with how much energy (proportional to cost) went into building it.
Most parts of the "grid" already have hydroelectric energy storage integrated into the system. That is how they time distribute the power available from big coal fired units operating at full power 24 hrs per day providing energy into a varying load.
With fossil fuel power generation we can predict the power demands thru weather forecasts and historical trends, and ensure that we have the power available when needed, not so with wind and solar.
Does the energy it takes to build a windmill come from the energy produced by a windmill?
If it takes more than the windmill can provide then other sources come into play, but at much less quantity than if these things were built without wind energy at all.
True and why we have energy storage in the system. Even modest size Pumped Storage units can store giga-watt hours of electrical energy available on a moment’s notice. Conventional hydroelectric units can also store energy by controlling their output and storing water in the reservoir.
In the proper places solar and wind energy can be predicted with workable accuracy. These units are designed to collect energy not provide reliable instantaneous power.
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