Monday, 1 July 2013

Cost Of Energy

"Onshore wind has the advantage of being one of the most affordable renewable energy sources. Generating electricity from onshore wind turbines typically costs around 7–9p per kWh, which is around half the cost of offshore wind and a quarter of the costs of solar photovoltaic panels. It is also slightly cheaper, on average, than nuclear power. Onshore wind generation is still slightly more expensive than fossil fuels (generating electricity from gas power plants currently costs between 4.1 and 7.5 p/kWh), but its price is expected to fall in the coming years." 

"Onshore wind is currently closely cost-competitive with other established sources of energy in the UK. However, onshore wind turbine projects suffer from various build constraints, including the limited availability of suitably windy sites and difficulties securing planning permission."

Offshore wind

"Siting wind turbines offshore circumvents these issues to an extent, but making the turbines robust enough to withstand the marine environment makes them more costly to manufacture. Constructing and maintaining turbines at sea is also more complex and hazardous than doing so on land, and this drives up the cost further. "

Factual sources: Cost-competitive onshore, relatively costly offshore

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