Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Mile Style
Check out this link:
http://www.retscreen.net/
Basically this is state-of-the-art technology that does Canada proud internationally. You can determine if a wind-farm will be profitable anywhere in the world. Including the profit within the first year, how long it would take to pay off the initial investment, how high the winds are etc. It really is quite amazing.
What you are quoting inevitably is one particular place, and would make no sense to apply that everywhere. Plus, how can something like this not make sense unless it is deregulated or heavily government subsidized? So basically it makes sense, everywhere? |
I'm a little too tired to get in depth with your link, but I'd be pretty curious to see exactly how the Canadian government is accumulating their data. I HIGHLY doubt a bank (or at least any financial group I've talked to) would finance a project based on anything other than historical wind data, accumulated with anything other than a test tower. When we approached Canadian Business Development about 5 years ago with a purchased piece of land, all the permits and 2 years of historical data showing a profit on the project, they ever so politely said thanks but no thanks.
Not sure what you mean in your last pargraph either....what I'm getting at is that you cannot pay off your initial investment (not just in Aberta but pretty much ANY country/province) without either one (or more) of the following:
- high commodity prices in a de-regulated market
- financial aid (subsidies)
- consistent wind (>35%)
With high prices you can get away with less wind. With more consistent wind you can get away with lower prices. With a government subsidies you can get away with neither the first or the last.