#Renewableenergy is approaching an important possible inflection point... what happens when #windfarms reach the end of their (expected) technical lifespan?
Do owners of early windframs (often in prime wind locations) invest in upgraded & now much more efficient (if expensive) new installations, or will they walk away having already earned a return... & if the latter, what happens with those sites; will they remain wind farms ?
This may become the key Q. for #windpower this decade.
It all depends on whether they have the appetite for another long-term investment, and the sorts of shifts in state support that might change the investment profile... however, perhaps the more pressing issue is whether new investors are looking for such projects - we can hope so but UK's mishandling of offshore wind licenses in 2023 is an instructive failure
@Jawaka@ChrisMayLA6 Repowering costs less than the original construction as you’re literally just fitting a new generating head and blades on an existing tower and wiring. It would be a strange business which, knowing for 25 years that it was going to be needed, didn’t provision for renewal out of revenue. After all, the depreciation is a tax deductible operating cost for precisely that reason.
@Jawaka@ChrisMayLA6 Power generation is a business where the time horizons are always very long so it shouldn’t be a place for short termist decision making. Thermal generating plants also wear out. Generating sets have to be stripped and refurbished in projects taking years. The ancillary plant doesn’t last forever. Unless a wind farm is badly sited, refurbishment (which can be spread more easily) is just spending a little to carry on making a lot. Significantly, as you..
@Jawaka@ChrisMayLA6 ..don’t have to shut down the whole farm to replace power heads one by one, refurbishment can be funded on a rolling basis out of current revenue. It’s not necessary to go looking for a huge big investment again so you’re not dependent on the financial climate. Your wind farm is like the Ship of Theseus.
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