Economic sensitivity analysis for the improvement in the energy capture of wind turbine generator

Abstract

Recently, the installed capacity of wind power generators (WTGs) has significantly increased as an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The current technology for a WTG may utilize only 80% of theoretically maximum wind energy, and thus, related studies have been conducted to maximize its electricity production. If the price of a WTG becomes expensive due to advanced technologies, the improved profitability of a wind plant project is not a natural outcome from the increased energy yield. However, the economic analysis related to the increased wind energy capture has not been sufficiently addressed. Therefore, in this study, we perform the economic sensitivity analysis for the improvement in the energy capture of a WTG. Specifically, we examine the decrease in the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) due to the increased energy production; then, we analyze the acceptable increase in the capital cost of a WTG in the view of economic feasibility. The results show that both the reduction in LCOE and the acceptable increase in the capital cost are linearly proportional to the percent increase in the energy production of a WTG. Further, it is found that the economic effect is possibly the best for time-of-use (TOU) electricity pricing scheme.