It’s a US Govt study for crying out loud.
If they are comparing, say a coal plant at 100% vs. a wind plant at 100% they can get these numbers.
But a coal plant can generate 90% of the time, a wind plant perhaps 30% of the time as it is not consistently windy. So the capital cost has to be paid off at a rate 3x higher than the coal plant.
Time is money. It takes three years to generate the equivalent megawatt hours as the coal plant. Factor that into the cost and wind becomes a joke.
Denmark now gets 18% of its energy from wind. But it’s carbon output has increased by 36%. The unintended consequence is running coal plants in their inherantly dirty spin up cycle every morning. (Wind generates mostly at night)
Wind generates 17% to 23% capacity factor. Only 1/5 nameplate rating worldwide - and that’s in the “good areas” of optimal wind speeds and wind availability.