It Costs $532,000 to Decommission A Single Wind Turbine

[rangerrebew]

 It Costs $532,000 to Decommission A Single Wind Turbine
Written by Isaac Orr   
in Energy
on October 03, 2019
 

It looks like Minnesota will have a very expensive mess to clean up when the wind turbines currently operating in the state reach the end of their 20 year useful lifetimes.

According to utility documents filed by Xcel Energy for it’s Nobles Wind facility, it will cost approximately $445,000 (in 2009 dollars) per turbine to decommission the wind facility. This means it would cost $532,000 per turbine (in 2019 dollars) for each of the 134 turbines in operation at this facility, bringing the total cost of decommissioning the Nobles project to $71 million.

https://www.americanexperiment.org/2019/10/it-costs-532000-to-decommission-a-single-wind-turbine/

[catfish1957]

[Hoodat]

According to utility documents filed by Xcel Energy for it’s Nobles Wind facility, it will cost approximately $445,000 (in 2009 dollars) per turbine to decommission the wind facility. This means it would cost $532,000 per turbine (in 2019 dollars) for each of the 134 turbines in operation at this facility, bringing the total cost of decommissioning the Nobles project to $71 million.

At 9 cents per kwh, each turbine grosses about $450k per year.  Subtract from that maintenance costs and efficiency loss.  Decommissioning will cost more than each turbine generates in 14 months.