WIND AT PRICE PARITY WITH COAL: EXPERT

Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, who with quiet forcefulness presented the Democrat rebuttal to President Bush’s State of the Union last month, is a big booster of wind energy in her state. Her administration has supported the Kansas finding that emissions from the controversial Holcomb Sunflower Electric coal-fired power plants are an environmental hazard. (See KANSAS REJECTS EMISSIONS)

Here’s a new wrinkle on the “build wind” argument: Kansas politician and wind booster Dave Kerr convinced Reno County officials to build a turbine manufacturing plant because the alternative would be importing turbines from overseas. The logistics of getting the giant parts through ports is daunting and costly. That makes NOT outsourcing turbine manufacture overseas the economically feasible thing to do. Think about that.

In another interesting economic calculation, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) wind energy authority Larry Flowers told Kansas legislators the cost of transporting coal to states without supplies makes building new coal-fired power plants a more costly proposition than building new wind. This directly contradicts testimony to the legislature from the Holcomb plant proponents (Sunflower Electric Power Corp. and Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association). Somebody’s got their facts wrong.

It might be that coal plant proponents are using old information. A number of coal plant projects have been cancelled in the last few months. With the imposition of a national cap-and-trade system imminent, emissions will soon cost. When emissions cost, burning coal will be expensive unless the plant builders install a “clean” coal system to capture the emissions. Such a system is also costly, so costly it is forcing the cancellation of "clean" coal projects like FutureGen. (See DOE DROPPING FUTUREGEN?)

One way or another, coal will soon be too costly. Those who are charged with finding energy for the grid are turning to wind.

Wind is clearly competitive. Add in costs for coal transport. Add in the social costs of emissions. Wind looks cheap. (click to enlarge)

Wind power now competitive with cost to build coal plants
Sarah Kessinger, February 9, 2008 (Harris News Service via Salina Journal)

WHO
Larry Flowers, wind researcher, the U.S Department of Energy (DOE)'s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL); Dave Kerr, Hutchinson Chamber President/ former Kansas Senate President; ITC Great Plains (Carl Huslig, President); Southwest Power Pool; Sunflower Electric Power Corp.; Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association

WHAT
- Flowers offered expert information on wind energy’s potential in Kansas to generate thousands of megawatts of power at prices competitive with coal-fired power plants.
- ITC Great Plains announced it will build 2 important new transmission systems.

Kansas has lots of good, midrange wind resources. (click to enlarge)

WHEN
- Flowers spoke February 7.
- The ITC Great Plains announcement came in the early February.

WHERE
- Flowers spoke at the Kansas statehouse.
- Kerr brought the Sunflower Wind wind turbine manufacturing plant to Reno County, Kansas, the state’s first such facility.
- The 2 new ITC Great Plains lines: Spearville to Wichita (180 miles), Spearville to Axtell, Neb.

WHY
- Sunflower Wind, an investor-owned start-up, is expected to be a big boost to the Reno County economy.
- Kerr convinced Reno County the plant is practical because of costs getting foreign-manufactured turbine parts through ports.
- Flowers made the point that in states where there are is no coal, the cost of shipping it for coal plants to burn makes building new wind a more economic choice than building new coal-fired plants.
- The ITC Great Plains wires will carry power from a variety of energies. Southwest Power Pool, the regional transmission planner, will spread the cost of the new transmission over the region.

Improvements on the Kansas section of the SPP grid make wind that much better a bet. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Kerr: "It's very helpful to get some solid information that is generally presented in a fashion that is not geared to argue but to provide facts on how wind can be developed…We do have a resource here and it needs to be pursued, aggressively…From what I hear in land leasing I would say we are probably going to have a wind boom."
- Kerr, on why Kansas should not import foreign manufactured wind turbines: "There are projects (nationwide) under consideration that would actually clog the ports if they had to bring those in from Europe and other places. It's very important they now be built in the U.S."
- Lee Boughey, lobbyist for the Holcomb power plant: "Baseload facilities, like coal plants, have higher capital costs, but are the best way to secure stable, low rates for our consumer owners…Wind energy plays a role in providing energy that can displace more expensive gas generation or purchased power."