Wind turbines are an attractive investment because they can help you earn money by generating renewable energy. The potential profits from investing in wind energy are especially true for Avangrid, Dominion Energy and Equinor. These are companies that have partnered up with states to build offshore wind farms and plan to operate them for decades. Also, “they are all in a position to take care of a generous investment tax credit.”

In addition, there are more than 200 projects undergoing construction or late-stage development in 33 states across the USA, according to a 2019 report from the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). These new projects add up to “41,801 megawatts of new capacity, up 10 percent year-over-year.”

To help you decide whether wind turbines are the right investment for you, here is a list of pros and cons.

Pros of wind turbines

• Wind energy is clean and renewable
• Wind energy is sustainable
• Wind turbines have low operation costs
• The land used for wind turbines can be used for other purposes, e.g., farming
• Wind turbines are environmentally-friendly. They do not produce greenhouse gas emissions
• Wind turbines produce jobs. In fact, the US wind energy sector employs more than 100,000 workers.

Cons of wind turbines 

• Expensive to purchase
• Wind turbines depend on windy weather conditions to generate electricity and in turn, money. It can be difficult to determine exactly how much money you will make every day
• Wind turbines are noisy and can sometimes be visually displeasing 
• Wind turbines can harm birds and bats.

Before you invest in wind turbines, you need to consider the above pros and cons. On top of these factors, you also need to consider maintenance plans. For more information on wind turbine maintenance and wind turbine services, you should contact an experienced wind energy service provider like Anemoi Energy Services. Contact Anemoi today for all your wind energy solutions.

Wind turbines are expensive investments and for them give you a high return on investment, they need to be well-maintained. It is also important to choose a suitable maintenance strategy with a low maintenance cost. Before you start servicing your wind turbines, here are some things to consider:

What is done during turbine maintenance? 

Although turbine maintenance differs from turbine to turbine, here is a list of the typical steps:

1. Change oil, belts, bearing lubrication and air filters
2. Test and realign shaft and hydraulic components
3. Inspect leakages and cracks
4. Torque tower bolts

Failure-based wind turbine maintenance 

Failure-based maintenance involves using the wind turbine until it fails. There are no scheduled repairs or services before the failure.

Condition-based maintenance 

Condition-based maintenance relies on predicting when a malfunction will occur. When a problem is noticed, then a repair is scheduled before the wind turbine actually malfunctions. In the U.S., the cost of operations and maintenance on wind farms in 2016 ranged between $42,000 and $48,000 per MW. It is important for wind farms to be kept in working condition to streamline these high costs. 

Scheduled maintenance 

Scheduled or time-based wind turbine maintenance keeps your wind turbines performing optimally. 

How is this done?

Technicians keep the moving components of the wind turbine lubricated, including gearboxes and bearings. Your technician should do this 2–3 times a year.

With scheduled maintenance, your wind turbines are less likely to fail because there is always a scheduled service or repair.

At Anemoi, we ensure that our maintenance checklist provides all the essential information for safe maintenance, cleaning, inspections, testing and replacement tasks that are necessary to ensure the proper operation of generators and associated equipment. We only let highly-qualified technicians and engineers perform on your wind turbines, whether they are residential wind turbines or on wind farms. For more information on wind turbines maintenance and wind turbine services, contact Anemoi today.

Wondering how much money you can make with wind turbines? 

It’s a common question considering how much wind turbines cost and how big they are. If you are considering investing in a wind turbine, here are some things to consider:

How much do wind turbines cost? 

Home or farm-scale turbines are generally under 100 kilowatts and cost about $3000–$8000 per kilowatt of capacity. A large house would need a 10-kilowatt turbine and the installation cost would be about $50,000-$80,000. Smaller farm or residential turbines cost less but are more expensive with regards to per kilowatt of energy-producing capacity.

On the other hand, commercial wind turbines cost millions of dollars. Here is a breakdown:

1. A commercial average-sized wind turbine (2 megawatts) costs about $2.6–4 million.
2. The cost of the turbine goes up along with the size of the turbine. There are also certain benefits that come from using larger wind turbines.
3. The cost also depends on how many turbines you order, when the agreement takes place, contracts and location of the project.

How much money does a wind turbine produce?

Turbines are quite an expensive investment and so it’s important that they generate money for the buyer. Wind turbine owners can sell electricity to local power utilities for homes and businesses. So how much can wind turbines make?

Wind turbines can make between $3000–$10,000 or more per year depending on the size and kilowatt capacity of the turbine. Farmers on wind farms can maintain their own electricity production and guarantee a lower price for at least 20 years. 

In 2019,  A 1-megawatt turbine produced $61,320 at 35% capacity, $87,600 at 50% capacity and $114,880 at 65% capacity. A 2.5-megawatt turbine produced $153,300 at 35% capacity, $219,000 at 50% capacity and $284,700 at 65% capacity. Lastly, a 4-megawatt turbine produced $245,280 at 35% capacity, $350,400 at 50% capacity and $455,520 at 65% capacity. 

Wind turbines can only perform at 35–65% capacity due to wind conditions. 

Wind turbine maintenance cost 

Once you purchase and build a wind turbine, there are ongoing maintenance costs to consider:

• 1–2 cents per kilowatt-hour produced
• $42,000–$48,000 per year

Although these costs seem high, wind turbines are worth the investment, especially because they can recoup costs on their own.

If you are looking to purchase or service your wind turbine, you should contact a reputable energy services company. At Anemoi Energy Services, we offer comprehensive wind turbine maintenance and wind turbine services to make sure your units are running efficiently and at capacity each day. Contact Anemoi today for any wind turbine service.

You can find wind turbines on hillsides, close to factories, above homes and even in the ocean. Wind turbines are an attractive energy resource because they depend on nature to produce energy and their maintenance cost is quite low, but before buying one, you need to understand how to calculate wind turbine output.

What is a megawatt or a megawatt-hour? 

Manufacturers measure the rated capacity of the machine and the actual output you can expect from it to determine how much electric power is being produced in megawatts (MW). One MW is equal to a million watts. If you are calculating power over a period of time then it is measured in megawatt-hours (MWh) or kilowatt-hours (kWh). One kW is equivalent to a thousand watts. If your wind turbine produces power at 1 MW in an hour then this equals 1 MWh of energy produced.

Efficiency rating 

Wind turbines need to capture wind efficiently. Ideally, wind turbines should convert 100% of wind passing through into energy, but due to friction, this is unlikely in the real world. You can calculate the value like this: power = [(air d wind turbines only have an efficiency rating of 30–50%ensity) times (swept area of blades) times (wind speed cubed)] divided by 2. 

1. The area in square meters
2. Air density in kilograms per meters cubed
3. Wind speed in meters per second

What determines how much power a wind turbine can produce? 

The wind – turbines depend on their ability to capture energy from the wind. Following this, the turbine converts this energy to rotational torque that turns the generator. Larger turbines, amongst other benefits, can capture more wind energy. 

How much energy do wind turbines produce? 

Every wind turbine has a different wind speed, but they range from around 30–55 mph. When there are slow wind speeds, the energy production decreases – if the wind speed decreases bt 50%, then the power production decreases by a factor of eight. As a result, wind turbines do not operate near their capacity, but rather at about 15–30%.

For example, with a 25% capacity factor, a 2-MW turbine would produce 2 MW × 365 days × 24 hours × 25% = 4,380 MWh = 4,380,000 kWh per year.

If you are looking to service your wind turbine, you should contact a reputable wind turbine service like Anemoi Energy Services. At Anemoi, we offer comprehensive wind turbine maintenance and wind turbine services to help you keep your wind turbines performing optimally and at capacity every day. Contact us today for the best wind turbine solutions.