Gov. Beverly Perdue recently announced plans to build one to three wind generators in Pamlico Sound near Hatteras. This announcement is the culmination of a UNC-Chapel Hill study that claimed that a full-blown offshore wind farm could create as many as 9,000 permanent jobs.
The facts about wind generation are very different from the rosy projections. Wind farms will increase, not lower energy costs. A large wind-generation plant is similar in construction cost to a gas turbine generating plant of the same size. However, the similarity ends there. Conventional generators can be started and controlled as needed to follow load variations. Wind generators are dependent on adequate wind and have limited controllability. A utility's backup generation requirement is usually 20 percent. In Texas, even a 91 percent backup requirement for wind generators was insufficient as they experienced power shortages in 2007 because of no wind during peak periods.
Wind projects require government subsidies and inflated energy prices to be viable. When the full cost of subsidies, operations and government-mandated prices are considered, the consumer cost for green power substantially exceeds conventional energy.
