Cuba Opens Experimental Wind Farm

AP via Forbes ^ | 02.26.07

[Abathar]

Cuba has opened an experimental wind farm, hoping alternative energy sources can one day ease occasional power shortages while reducing the island's dependence on oil, state news media reported Sunday.

The $3.4 million park, featuring six 180-foot windmills, was established on Isla de la Juventud, an island south of Havana, according to the Communist Party youth newspaper Juventud Rebelde.

Exactly when the park was inaugurated was unclear, but officials estimate that during its first year of operation it could produce 1,800 megawatts of electricity. That would save Cuba about $136,000 in oil costs on international market, the newspaper said.

The park was built using French technology, and its windmills are designed to be disassembled quickly in case of hurricanes or tropical storms.

Officials hope to finish work on another wind park with six windmills, located in the eastern province of Holguin, by the end of the year.

The collapse of the Soviet Union sparked widespread energy shortages in Cuba, when the island suddenly lost its primary source of fossil fuels on highly preferential terms. While conditions have improved, blackouts are still sometimes a problem during the scorching summer months.

Cuba produces its own oil and natural gas, but not enough to meet its needs. An agreement with oil-rich Venezuela allows the island to buy nearly 100,000 barrels of oil a day under preferential terms, while Cuba sends thousands of volunteer doctors to Venezuela who offer free care to the poor.

[Abathar]

The reason we aren't building more of them is that they aren't that cost effective. The left hates them for what they do to the birds. If they made money on their own without huge tax incentives then they would be all over the place where a constant wind is blowing. Cost wise they just aren't that attractive, so we build coal and NG burners instead.

[s_asher]

I think these are a great idea... our government should be subsidizing companies to make these and export them allover the world. More wind power for them = more oil for us.

[Asfarastheeastisfromthewest...]

Sorry but the math in this story doesn't even remotely compute, even for Cuba..... I don't have time to say what the 'reasonable numbers' might be for a project cost of $3.4 million, 1,800 MW of electricity and savings of $136,000 of oil but at least one (and more likely 2) of the 3 numbers are totally off-base. I suspect it is the 1,800 MW figure for two reasons. 1. $3.4 million for 6 wind turbines would imply that each wind turbine is worth something less than $566,000 apiece since there are lots of other costs as well beside the actual wind turbine. I highly doubt this is a reasonable number for a 180 foot diameter turbine. 2. The article states 'during its first year of operation it could produce 1,800 megawatts of electricity' which implies a relationship of some quantity to time. If this is the case, it would appear that the writer of the article doesn't know the difference between the terms 'power' and 'energy' since he/she is using a power term for something that has a time component attached to it (namely the one year period). If he/she really did mean to use the 1,800 number to denote the number of peak MW that the group of 6 wind turbines is capable of producing, this would mean that each has a peak capacity of 300 MW. I'm not sure what the state of the art is now (and I'd have to do more research than I have time for now) but my guess is that there is no wind turbine in existence that does 10 MW and only a handful of ones of 5 MW capacity (and those are all much bigger than 180 foot diameter).

If I had to take a quick guess at what the correct numbers might be, it would be that the maximum power capacity of the 6 wind turbines is 1,800 kW (not 1,800 MW) and with winds that only blow 20 to 25% of the time. That would give 1,800 kW x 2190 hrs/yr (at 25% operating time) or 3,942,000 kWh/yr of generated electrical energy. At a cost of roughly 3.5 cents per kW-hr, this roughly computes to the $136,000 cost of oil (and clearly I'm skipping a few steps here to equate cost of electrical energy to what can be achieved by burning oil). This would take more work than I want to give it to refine the numbers but clearly, the 1,800 MW figure would appear to be off by a factor of 1,000. Another possibility is that the writer perhaps to meant to say that the 6 wind turbines can produce 1,800 MWh annually which at a wind usage factor of 25% would yield wind turbines in the 800 kW size range. Who knows. Sheeeesh, as for the costs.....just the environmental assessment study for a project of 6 - 300 MW wind turbines would be in the gazillions of dollars (mind you in Cuba, they might have no clue what an environmental assessment means).

[mikeus_maximus]

It should work. Ever had Cuban black beans with hot sauce? They could sell the excess energy to other countries, forcryinoutloud.

[nascarnation]

Yeah in Cuba that much poultry is probably looked upon as a significant enhancement to the national food supply

[DungeonMaster]

The reason we aren't building more of them is that they aren't that cost effective. The left hates them for what they do to the birds. If they made money on their own without huge tax incentives then they would be all over the place where a constant wind is blowing. Cost wise they just aren't that attractive, so we build coal and NG burners instead.

The reason I'm giving you a hard time is that we are building 2500 mw worth of windfarms per year. Your initial statement was wrong. The only reason we are not building more is because all the windmill factories in the world can not build them fast enough which is why the price of them has jumped 50 percent in 24 months.

[Asfarastheeastisfromthewest...]

Oooops... I knew that I should have taken a few more minutes. In the last paragraph, I suggest that 'Another possibility is that the writer perhaps meant to say that the 6 wind turbines can produce 1,800 MWh annually which at a wind usage factor of 25% would yield wind turbines in the 800 kW size range'.... actually, the wind turbines based on that criteria would be even smaller, probably in the 140 kW size range.

[Cheburashka]

$3.4 million to save $136K in oil a year. With maintenance and repairs I guess Castro will never see the theoretical payoff date.
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How ironic that they finished this after Fidel got sick. When he was well enough to make speeches it really could have paid for itself in a year.

[Cheburashka]

Is there anybody the French won't sell to?
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Elbonia. The French want cash, not mud.