Commercial advancements and technology are anticipated to proceed to reduce the cost of wind energy, as per surveys by power experts. Professionals expect cost depreciation of 17 to 35% by 2035 and 37 to 49% by 2050, thereby driven by efficient and bigger turbines, lower operating costs, and capitals along with additional advancements. The findings of the survey are highlighted in this article. Without further ado, let’s get started,
Summarization of the Survey
According to the global survey by power experts, fixed bottom offshore wind, onshore wind, and floating offshore wind applications were taken into consideration. The expected prospective costs concerning all three kinds of wind power are half of what professionals predicted earlier in 2015.
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Other than that, the survey additionally uncovered insights upon the possible magnitude of cost reductions, grid systems, and anticipated technology trends. Experiencing an accelerated cost reduction lately, both onshore and offshore wind is making the earlier cost predictions obsolete.
The power sector demands a current assessment. Moreover, professional surveys complement additional methods when it comes to evaluating the potential of cost reduction. It throws light on how the reductions of the cost may be realized and by analyzing the essential uncertainties within such estimates.
The president of the United States has signed an order, thereby intending to maximize the potential of offshore wind, and has discovered wind energy to be a key component concerning the renewed efforts of combating climate change of the nation. Sources of renewable energy like solar and wind are likely to play a significant role aiming to put any effort into reaching net-zero carbon emissions within the mid-century.
Cost Reduction: Opportunities Followed By Uncertainties
Under the best scenario professionals expect 17 to 35% cost reductions within the year of 2035 and 37 to 49% reductions within 2050 covering the three kinds of wind applications served as compared to the baseline values of 2019. When it comes to the Levelized cost, they reflect the average power cost per unit of power output over the electricity plant lifetime and happen to be useful for analyzing technology progress.
Apart from that, there happens to be greater uncertainty and absolute reductions when it comes to the Levelized cost of power concerning offshore wind when compared to the onshore wind, along with a slight gap between floating and fixed bottom offshore wind.
Considering the maturation of both offshore and onshore wind technology, there happens to be enough space for prolonged improvement with lower costs. Wind experts anticipate a 10% possibility that cost reductions are likely to be 38 to 53% by 2035 and 54 to 64% by 2050. Other than that, there happens to be an uncertainty in search projections where cost reductions relatively happen to be modest.
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Factors Impacting the Cost of Wind Energy
5 key factors play an important role in impacting the cost of wind energy.
- Project design life
- Cost of financing
- Capacity factor
- Ongoing operating costs
- Upfront capital cost
Based on the above factors, wind experts expect continued advancements across all dimensions, as compared to relative contribution referred by wind application. According to experts, turbine size is also a key driver in such improvements other than half heights and rotor diameters. Other than that, floating offshore wind is expected to increase market share, thereby developing from its present free commercial state, hence accounting for approximately 25% of new projects by 2035.
The Future of Wind Energy
Wind power has developed rapidly, however, its long-term contribution to power supply depends on future value and costs. New studies discovered that cost reductions have increased in the past years: probably faster than earlier predictions and historical decline rates. Other than that, experts also predicted the growing use and future reductions of measures related to value enhancement for both onshore and offshore wind.
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