Wind Vision: A New Era for Wind Power in the United States

Greenhouse gas mitigation efforts in the electricity sector have emphasized accelerated deployment of energy efficiency (EE) measures and renewable energy (RE) resources. We evaluate renewa...

/pdf/location-location-location-the-variable-value-of-renewable-2t3bvjjbjn.pdf

Location, Location, Location: The Variable Value of Renewable Energy and Demand-Side Efficiency Resources

This report describes the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for a typical land-based wind turbine installed in the United States in 2011, as well as the modeled LCOE for a fixed-bottom offshore wind turbine installed in the United States in 2011. Each of the four major components of the LCOE equation are explained in detail, such as installed capital cost, annual energy production, annual operating expenses, and financing, and including sensitivity ranges that show how each component can affect LCOE. These LCOE calculations are used for planning and other purposes by the U.S. Department of Energy's Wind Program.

/pdf/2011-cost-of-wind-energy-review-lh5xwu5y0i.pdf

2011 Cost of Wind Energy Review

Author(s): Ryan H. Wiser; Mark Bolinger | Abstract: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’snWind Technologies Market Reportnprovides an annual overview of trends in the U.S. wind power market. You can find the report, a presentation, and a data file on the Files tab, below. Additionally, several data visualizations are available in the Data Visualizations tab. Highlights of this year’s report include:Wind power additions continued at a rapid clip in 2016:n$13 billion was invested in new wind power plants in 2016. In 2016, wind energy contributed 5.6% of the nation’s electricity supply, more than 10% of total electricity generation in fourteen states, and 29% to 37% in three of those states—Iowa, South Dakota, and Kansas.Bigger turbines are enhancing wind project performance:nIncreased blade lengths, in particular, have dramatically increased wind project capacity factors, one measure of project performance. For example, the average 2016 capacity factor among projects built in 2014 and 2015 was 42.6%, compared to an average of 32.1% among projects built from 2004 to 2011 and 25.4% among projects built from 1998 to 2001.Low wind turbine pricing continues to push down installed project costs:nWind turbine prices have fallen from their highs in 2008, to $800–$1,100/kW. Overall, the average installed cost of wind projects in 2016 was $1,590/kW, down $780/kW from the peak in 2009 and 2010.nWind energy prices remain low:nAfter topping out at nearly 7¢/kWh for power purchase agreements (PPAs) executed in 2009, the national average price of wind PPAs has dropped to around 2¢/kWh—though this nationwide average is dominated by projects that hail from the lowest-priced Interior region of the country (such as Texas, Iowa, Oklahoma). These prices, which are possible in part due to federal tax support, compare favorably to the projected future fuel costs of gas-fired generation. nThe supply chain continued to adjust to swings in domestic demand for wind equipment:nWind sector employment reached a new high of more than 101,000 full-time workers at the end of 2016. For wind projects recently installed in the U.S., domestically manufactured content is highest for nacelle assembly (g90%), towers (65-80%), and blades and hubs (50-70%), but is much lower (l20%) for most components internal to the turbine.Continued strong growth in wind capacity is anticipated in the near term:nWith federal tax incentives still available, though declining, various forecasts for the domestic market show expected wind power capacity additions averaging more than 9,000 MW/year from 2017 to 2020.

/pdf/2016-wind-technologies-market-report-4traidwss6.pdf

2016 Wind Technologies Market Report

/pdf/2019-cost-of-wind-energy-review-4w443c35kf.pdf

2019 Cost of Wind Energy Review

LBNL-XXXXX E RNEST O RLANDO L AWRENCE B ERKELEY N ATIONAL L ABORATORY An Analysis of the Costs, Benefits, and Implications of Different Approaches to Capturing the Value of Renewable Energy Tax Incentives Mark Bolinger Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Environmental Energy Technologies Division April 2014 Download from emp.lbl.gov/reports/re The work described in this report was co-funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Wind and Water Power Technologies Office and Solar Energy Technologies Office, both within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231.

/pdf/an-analysis-of-the-costs-benefits-and-implications-of-1wz7iqiq8w.pdf

Mark Bolinger

Papers

An Analysis of the Costs, Benefits, and Implications of Different Approaches to Capturing the Value of Renewable Energy Tax Incentives