FALLACIES AND FAILURES OF SOME

PROJECTS
1) The operating characteristics of turbine and generator mean that only
a small part of wind energy can be captured .Wind power is also
intermittent, unreliable and hard to predict. Therefore large backup or
storage systems are required. This adds to the capital and operating
costs and increases the instability of the network.

2)

Wind power is justified by claims that it reduces emissions and thus

reduces global warming. However, when all the steel, concrete,
construction, maintenance, replacement and rehabilitation are taken into
account, wind power contributes nothing to reducing emissions or
changing global climate.

ONE OF THE PROJECTS WHICH HAVE

FAILED:
Some politicians, like Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, are very ambitious about
the role of alternative energy in electricity generation. His goal for the state is to produce
2,000 megawatts of power from alternative energy sources by 2020, says Kevin D.
Williamson of the National Review.
Patrick expects wind power to be a major alternative source. However, as the general
manager of the local utility authority in Princeton, Mass., describes, many wind-energy
projects are failures.

Princeton Municipal Light Department's wind-energy project has lost

nearly $2 million.

Customers of this utility company pay more in their electricity bill than
the average customer -- totaling nearly $744,000 in 2011.

Moreover, the general manager projects the project to lose $600,000 a

year.
The projected yearly losses don't assume changes in wholesale electricity rates or
repair costs, which can be extravagant.

Original warranties on turbines have expired and extended warranty

options are not available.

This is problematic considering that the cost of replacing a gearbox, for

instance, is estimated at $600,000.

About $40 billion worth of wind turbines will go out of warranty by the
end of 2012.
Additionally, wind turbines are out of commission more than 20 percent of the time -only 0.5 percent of that time accounts for regularly scheduled maintenance. This makes
it difficult for companies to produce cheap energy to consumers.
On top of the costs of utility losses and the price of subsidies, companies forgo
investments in more economically viable projects. Rather than have the government
provide incentives for certain ventures, market forces can direct companies and public
officials to make sound investments. For example, agricultural and industrial users have
more to gain from wind-energy projects than municipal utilities.
In some cases, wind energy has proven an economical investment. Valero installed a
massive wind farm at its refinery in Texas that generates enough electricity for the entire
complex. Furthermore, equipment used to run Marcellus Shale gas runs off solar power.
In both cases, the firms were willing to invest in the alternative energy because it was
economical, not because the government provided incentives.