Converting From Coal to Wind Energy
is a community consisting of homes. A small coal-burning power plant currently supplies electricity for the town. The capacity of the power plant is MW and the average household consumes kWh of electricity each year. The price paid to the electric utility by West Fremont residents for this energy is $ per kWh. The town leaders are considering a plan, the Wind Project, to generate their own electricity using 10 wind turbines that would be located on the wooded ridges surrounding the town. Each wind turbine would have a capacity of MW and each would cost the town $ to purchase, finance, and operate for 25 years.
Assuming that the existing power plant can operate at full capacity for 8,000 hrs/yr, how many kWh of electricity can be produced by the plant in a year?
At the current rate of electrical energy use per household, how many kWh of electrical energy does the community consume in one year?
Compare your answers in parts 1 and 2 and explain why you would or would not expect the numbers to be the same.
Assume that the electrical energy needs of the community do not change during the 25 year lifetime of the wind turbines, would would be the cost to the community of the electricity supplied by the Wind Project over 25 years? Express your answer in dollars/kWh.
