News | Sunday, 24 May 2009

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Land wind farms cheaper than power station

But electricity from Sikka l-Bajda offshore farm will be more expensive to produce than oil-fired power station - government reports

James Debono
With not much of a future left for offshore wind farms, deemed too expensive by the Mott Macdonald report on wind energy, a possible option for two land farms will make it cheaper to produce energy than a conventional power station.
The project development statements for the three proposed wind farms – an offshore farm at Sikka l-Bajda, and land farms in Hal Far and Wied Rini in Bahrija – claim the latter sites will produce energy at a lower cost than power station rates.
The project statements are the first stage before preparing an environmental impact assessment for the three proposals.
The three sites however have been selected without any studies measuring the actual wind speeds. Sites with favourable wind speeds will be more economically viable since they produce more energy.
The studies put prices of electricity produced by Sikka l-Bajda at not lower than 18 cents per kilowatt-hour, compared to anything between 6c to 10.5c/kWh at Wied Rini and 6.5c to 12.2c at Hal Farm.
Without any wind data, the studies cannot predict the exact cost of power generation from the farms.
Gigantic wind turbines are expected to be used, to maximise efficiency. By doubling the rotor’s diameter, the wind turbine’s capacity increases and makes it cheaper to produce energy. Larger wind turbines are installed on higher towers to benefit from higher wind speeds and lower turbulence. They also require less land area.
The Mott Macdonald report on the feasibility of Sikka l-Bajda had already warned that the cost of producing wind energy using deep-sea technology, could be prohibitive. Although the Sikka l-Bajda wind farm will produce energy at a higher cost than a conventional power station, it has the advantage of providing a supply of clean energy at a secured price over a period of 20-25 years, without being susceptible to highly volatile fuel prices.
Another advantage cited in the report is that no extra cost will be incurred from carbon emissions trading requirements.

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