Wind Power

Energy and Climate Change written question – answered at on 6 September 2010.

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Photo of Chris Heaton-Harris Chris Heaton-Harris Conservative, Daventry

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the efficiency and effectiveness of on-shore wind turbines in the last 10 years; how much electricity was generated by wind turbines in the last 12 months; and what the average cost per unit of electricity generated by each generating technology was in 2009.

Photo of Charles Hendry Charles Hendry The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change

The Department for Energy and Climate Change, and two of its predecessor departments (the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Department of Trade and Industry) commissioned the following pieces of research containing information on the generation costs and efficiencies of electricity generation technologies, including onshore wind:

ETSU (2002) New and Renewable Energy: Prospects in the UK for the 21st century: Supporting Analysis, available at:

http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/what_we_do/uk_supply/energy_mix/renewable/policy/renew_obs/key_stages/ro_order_2002/ro_order_2002.aspx

Oxera/ DTT (2004) Results of Renewable Energy Modelling, available at:

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/tna/+/http://www.dti.gov.uk/renewables/policy/oxeraresults.pdf

Enviros (2005) The costs of supplying renewable energy, available at:

http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file21118.pdf

Energy Strategies and Redpoint (2006), Dynamics of GB Generation Investment, available at:

http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file31799.pdf

Ernst & Young (2007), Impact of banding the Renewables Obligation - Costs of electricity production, available at:

http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file39038.pdf

Redpoint and Trilemma (2008), Implementation of the EU2020 Renewable Target in the UK Electricity Sector - Renewable Support Schemes, available here:

http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/cons_res/rescon_support/rescon_support.aspx

Redpoint and Trilemma (2009), Implementation of the EU2020 Renewable Target in the UK Electricity Sector - RO Reform, available here:

http://decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/what_we_do/uk_supply/energy_mix/renewable/res/res.aspx

Mott Macdonald (2010), UK Electricity Generation Costs Update, available at:

http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/Statistics/Projections/71-uk-electricity-generation-costs-update.pdf

The Department does not formally evaluate the research of other organisations.

The Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2010 reports that in 2009 7.6 TWh of electricity was generated by onshore wind and 1.7 TWh by offshore wind.

The following tables are taken from Mott Macdonald (2010) and give levelised cost estimates (average generation cost per megawatt-hour) for new build plants in the main large-scale electricity generation technologies in the UK, at current engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract prices.

It should be noted that for the purposes of presentation, the table only gives either 'FOAK' (first-of-a-kind) prices or 'NOAK' (nth-of-a-kind) prices for each technology. On offshore wind, for example, it shows offshore wind 'FOAK' prices, whereas the round 2 technology may be considered to have progressed towards 'NOAK' prices. Mott Macdonald estimate 'NOAK' offshore wind costs at £125/MWh (10% discount rate, 2009 project start at today's EPC prices).

Case 1: 10% discount rate, 2009 project start at today's EPC prices, with mixed FOAK/NOAK
Levelised cost Gas CC GT Gas CCGT with CCS FOAK ASC coal ASC c oal with CCS FOAK Coal IGCC FOAK Coal IGCC with CCS FOAK Onshore wind Offshore wind FOAK Offshore wind R3 FOAK Nuclear PWR. FOAK
Capital Costs 12.4 29.8 33.4 74.1 61.7 82.0 79.2 124.1 144.6 77.3
Fixed operating Coals 3.7 7.7 8.6 18.6 9.7 17.7 14.6 36.7 45.8 12.25
Variable Operating Costs 2.3 3.6 2.2 4.7 3.4 4.6 __ __ __ 2.1
Fuel Costs 46.9 65.0. 19.9 28.7 20.3 28.3 __ __ __ 5.3
Carbon Costs 15.1 2.1 40.3 6.5 39.6 5.5 __ __ __ __
Decomm and waste fund __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ 2.1
CO2 transport and storage __ 4.3 __ 9.6 __ 9.5 __ __ __ __
Steam Revenue __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
Total levelised cost 80.3 112.5 104.5 142.1 134.6 147.6 93.9 160.9 190.5. 99.0
Case 1: 10% discount rate, 2009 project start at today's EPC prices, with mixed FOAK/NOAK
Levelised Cost Small business power only. FOAK Large biomass power only. FOAK OCGT AD on wasted Landfill gas Sewage gas Small biomass CHP. FOAK
Capital Costs 55.8 46.1 7.1 63.8 25.8 42.0 91.3
Fixed operating Coals 21.0 13.4 3.0 21.0 13.1 8.9 23.9
Variable Operating Costs 2.5 2.5 1.5 18.6 21.1 2.1 2.8
Fuel Costs 36.7 31.2 60.6 __ __ __ 54.9
Carbon Costs __ __ 18.2 __ __ __ __
Decomm and waste fund __ __ __ __ __ __ __
CO2 transport and storage __ __ __ __ __ __ __
Steam Revenue __ __ __ __ __ __ 148.5
Total levelised cost 116.0 93.2 90.5 103.3 60.0 54.0 172.9
Net levelised cost __ __ __ __ __ __ 24.4
Levelised Cost Large biomass CHP. FOAK 10MW gas. CHP Small GT based CHP CCGT. CHP Energy from waste Hydro reservoir
Capital Costs 86.8 17.2 15.1 14.3 94.9 74.2
Fixed operating Coals 22.0 4.8 4.3 5.0 15.2 9.0
Variable Operating Costs 2.4 2.4 2.4 1.9 56.7 -
Fuel Costs 48.7 83.4 76.8 57.1 - -
Carbon Costs - 25.5 23.5 18.5 - -
Decomm and waste fund - - - - - -
CO2 transport and storage - - - - - -
Steam Revenue 135.0 56.6 45.2 27.2 - -
Total levelised cost 160.0 133.4 122.1 96.7 166.8 83.2
Net levelised cost 24.9 76.8 76.8 69.4 - -

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No3 people think not

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