Renewable con job

[happy daze john in oz]

We all know of the windmill style turbines creating electricity spread across the land.

The cost of one here in Oz, to supply, fit in place and wire into the gtid costs about $10 million per turbine.

They have a life span of about 10 to 12 years here depending on conditions.

A major problem has now emerged in South Australia where some of the first, now the oldest are situated.

They have reached the end of their serviceable life and need to be replaced.

The problem is that there is no recycling plan for them, they will go to land fill tip.

The materials used are not suitable for recycling due to all the non recyclable contents such as glues etc.

Then the cycle begins again, another $10, or maybe now $12 million each to be spent.

Then we are told by the gov electricity will be so much heaper with renewables such as wind turbines and solar.

No wonder the people have little time for such persons.

[Doc Vernon]

I know that there is a lot going on about the Air etc, but i cannot understand all this new Green Energy thing, (Dont mean actual workings etc) but the foolishness of all of it!
Gee we have been living for Years and Years with the good old Coal Fired Energy Plants, and they have stood the test of time, virtually! Look at the ages of some of them aroung the World, not only here and still going!
Yes they do have to be maintained like anything else to keep in good shape, but not a quater of the cost of some of these new found inventions .
I say bugger the little bit of nasty Air , and keep on living as we did for so many Years, it hasnt really affected many of us has it??
To my mind its the older things in life that are the best, yes Even us old Ballies!! LOL

[happy daze john in oz]

Vernon, coal fired power stations are still being built in about 20 countries around the world.
Here we are being punished by the looney 'Greens' who want to save the world, what from no one is certain.

But despite all the crap coming out about it we will still have coal and gas fired power for many years to come.

Here in Vic the Greens want all new building estates to be electric only, no gas.
Do not think that will happen for along time yet.

[j.sabourn]

I would of said the biggest polluters of the air at the moment are the warring factions in the Ukraine. They should be armed with Bows and Arrows. JS

[Rodney Mills]

Johnno, I sent your post to my "honorary son" in Germany, who owns four wind combines outright and has a 40% ownership in a bunch others.* As I have previously*mentioned, I have been to the top of one of his winds combines*and previously posted photos.
*
Following is his response to your post.

"We all know of the windmill style turbines creating electricity spread across the land.
The cost of one here in Oz, to supply, fit in place and wire into the grid costs about $10 million per turbine...


I bought one of the newest and largest onshore wind turbines two weeks ago. It's a VESTAS (Danish company, one of the world's leading

manufacturers) V150.Rotor diameter: 150 m, hub height: 169 m, max. Power 6 MW (six million watts).

The turbine including grounding costs EUR 6.200.000. Total cost of the project is around EUR 7.500.000. (A$ 11,500.00) including
grounding costs (cement base etc.).

..."They have a lifespan of about 10 to 12 years here depending on conditions"

No! In the past, the turbines were designed for a life span of 20 years. After that, they can usually be operated for another 5-10 years. This

depends on the actual wind conditions. currently turbines are designed to last 25 years from the outset. plus renewable variants


"A major problem has now emerged in South Australia where some of the first, now the oldest are situated.

They have reached the end of their serviceable life and need to be replaced.

The problem is that there is no recycling plan for them, they will go to landfill tip.

The materials used are not suitable for recycling due to all the non recyclable contents such as glues etc."


There is a problem, but not that big. Indeed the rotor blades are made from material (fiber) which is hard and not recyclable. However, the

Turbine mentioned above, weighs approx 800 tons (w/o grounding (cement base)). Most of it is the Steel tower (approx 600 tons). It is

100% recyclable. Most of the other parts (Gear box, generator etc. ) are also 100 % recyclable. The non-recyclable rotor blades weigh approx 45 tons (all three blades together). This is about 5-6 % of the total mass non-recyclable.

The grounding is also recyclable, but in another way. The concrete must be crushed like the concrete of all the old buildings and can be

used in road construction.

Compare this to the recyclability of a car. Can you really recycle the seats, all the plastic / fiber parts?


..."Then we are told by the gov electricity will be so much cheaper with renewables such as wind turbines and solar."

Yes. Wind turbines and solar have the lowest production costs at the moment. What is cheaper? To build nuclear power stations, you need some decades of research (usually paid by the government). Then you have a production phase (usually run by private companies but passed on to their customers) followed by some thousands of years of dealing with the waste (paid by the taxpayer). End.

Cheers, Rodney

[Doc Vernon]

Thanks Rodney but just to let you know that John is away at this time , Roaming around the Globe with his dear Wife! They will only be back at the end July!
Cheers

[James Curry]

#5 Rodney why does the Pedestal need to be replaced ? Surely there is some kind of fabric maintenance carried out during a Turbines service life. I can understand the need to replace the Turbine unit and perhaps the blades. I read an article that a German/Spanish company Siemens Gamsea have designed a blade that is now possible to recycle at the end of its serviceable life. The new Blades are to enter service this year and are made in Denmark.

Also in Germany they are bringing back online again Coal fired power stations that had been mothballed this is due to the sanctions imposed against Russia because of the war in Ukraine.

[Rodney Mills]

James #7.

James, I have sent your questions over to my "Honorary" son in Germany for answers to your query. will post as soon as he responds. Cheers, Rodney

[Rodney Mills]

James, Mine is probably not the correct conclusion, but it crossed my wee brain that it wouldn't be wise to buy a new car and ask to mount it on used tires to save a bit of money, and I don't know the type of concrete used in wind combines, but with a starting life span at 25 years, plus a 10-15 further years as my "son" pointed out, an adjusted serviceable life span of 35 years x 2 now becomes 70 years of continuous working life, for a relatively cheap part of the operation. Which is already factored into the costs. Additionally, there may be problems with obtaining Warrantees and insurance. We'll see what answers I get back from Germany.

Cheers, Rodney

[Tony Taylor]

#5 Rodney why does the Pedestal need to be replaced ? Surely there is some kind of fabric maintenance carried out during a Turbines service life. I can understand the need to replace the Turbine unit and perhaps the blades. I read an article that a German/Spanish company Siemens Gamsea have designed a blade that is now possible to recycle at the end of its serviceable life. The new Blades are to enter service this year and are made in Denmark.

Also in Germany they are bringing back online again Coal fired power stations that had been mothballed this is due to the sanctions imposed against Russia because of the war in Ukraine.

Many of the offshore turbines of the mono pole design are developing cracks in the base structure; a lot of the new ones are utilising a structure similar to bases used for offshore platforms (jackets).