Uruguay offered cheaper power from private wind-farm developers

Saturday, September 10th 2011 - 06:29 UTC

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Uruguay could enjoy 1.3 billion dollars of wind farms in the next four years after developers said they could provide electricity cheaper than conventional energy sources. Read full article

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DennisA
But too little or too much wind means only around 25% of rated capacity, so this cheap electricity won't be very cheap for long, once they have contracts in place.
Sep 10th, 2011 - 01:00 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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GeoffWard2
Uruguay must have a 'special sort of wind', because across the world, wherever efficiencies achieved have been assessed against projections, the returns on the investment come up massively short. Typically 30% efficiency, but I have seen onshore wind farms with efficiencies as low as 18%!
Sep 10th, 2011 - 04:58 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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Corresponsal
Large wind farms are QUITE economic except for the problem which is how do you store the surplus energy generated, on a utility scale, and use that energy when it is needed most?

The wind tends to blow hardest at night when the power is not needed as much.

Large scale wind farms tend to have very low rates of return for investors, so they are not an area of investment interest for most.
Sep 10th, 2011 - 05:04 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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