An editorial by NPPD Board Director Larry G. Kuncl

Several people have talked to me about wind power, particularly in light of Nebraska Public Power District’s (NPPD) commitment to purchase 80 megawatts of wind power from a wind farm near Bloomfield, Nebraska. The following is a short description of wind power and how it fits into NPPD’s long-range generation plans.

NPPD produces electrical power using a variety of fuels. Some 60 percent of the electricity generated by NPPD is generated with coal. Other fuels used by NPPD are nuclear, natural gas, wind energy, hydro, and a small amount of oil. Although coal is the least expensive fuel today, there are strong indications that this may not remain so in the near future. Federal agencies and politicians are working on ways to tax emissions and penalize plant owners. In addition, it appears that all coal plants will be required to retrofit very expensive equipment to further decrease emissions from their stacks. It is estimated that the costs for such equipment could be higher than what it cost to build the plants originally.

In this environment, NPPD has been examining other ways to generate electricity. One of these ways is by use of wind turbines. Within recent years, the technology for extracting energy from the wind has improved tremendously. Ten or fifteen years ago, I would not have supported the building of wind generation on NPPD’s system. However, there have been significant improvements and costs have decreased. In 2005, NPPD built a facility near Ainsworth, Nebraska, which generates a nominal 60 megawatts from 36 wind turbines. NPPD keeps slightly more than half of the output and has sold the remaining output to other utilities.

Recently NPPD has entered into a contract to buy 80 megawatts of wind power from a private developer at Bloomfield, Nebraska. It is expected that, again, approximately half of the output will be sold to other utilities. At this time, NPPD is looking at its transmission system and doing its best to locate new wind power facilities near transmission lines that have available capacity. The 80-megawatt plant is such a plant.

Some people view wind power as a solution to all our electrical needs; other people see wind power as a wasteful, non-reliable resource. In fact, wind power is neither of these extremes. Wind power is a method by which NPPD can continue to diversify its fuel mix and produce electricity at a low cost to its consumers. The 80-megawatt plant that was recently contracted for is actually owned and operated by the developer, and NPPD only pays for the power that it receives, according to a preset cost schedule. Thus the risk of operating or owning such a plant is that of the developer, and not NPPD.

There are several good things about wind farms. Some of them are as follows: 1) The “fuel” is wind, and it is free. 2) The construction of wind farms in rural areas will be good for Nebraska people. 3) Wind power is “green”; if there are taxes levied on the emissions from other fuels, there will be none on wind. 4) Wind is another way to diversify NPPD’s fuel mix.

There are some negatives to wind power, and they are as follows: 1) Wind turbines are expensive; even though “fuel” is free, the capital cost is high. 2) We cannot always depend on the wind to provide electricity for Nebraska. Wind operates at about a 40 percent capacity factor, compared to about double that for other types of plants. 3) The location of wind farms is in areas of the state that are sparsely populated, thus wind must rely on long transmission lines to bring the power to NPPD load centers.

Power from wind farms will not solve everyone’s problems, but I believe that building wind farms is the right way to go. Stricter environmental regulations concerning emissions are almost certain to come. By having wind farms built ahead of that time, NPPD will be less affected than having to build things in a hurry.

Larry G. Kuncl
Director, Subdivision 9
Nebraska Public Power District