And what does it all cost? A key question to the installation of any renewable energy device is how many investments are needed and whether this will pay off, and when. We therefore need to look into cost details in a bit more detail to get to know whether the installation of a wind turbine at your location is a good idea (financially) or not. Are there subsidies available for your location and for renewable energy installations at your company or at your private house? If so, how much and what exactly is supported. Let's look into it ...
Cost details
Obviously the first thing to consider is the wind turbine itself. But what other costs are there and when do the have to be paid? There is two principal types of costs, the so-called 'Capital Expenditure' (CAPEX) and the 'Operational Expenditure' (OPEX). In simple words, CAPEX are the costs you have upfront, before the wind turbine is operational, OPEX are the costs you will have during the operations of the wind turbine(s). What this means in case of our wind turbine is discussed below.
CAPEX: The wind turbine itself is part of CAPEX, but this is not the only cost under this category. Wind measurements and analysis, the site analysis, transport costs, foundation works, installation costs, grid connections, permits are all part of CAPEX and should be assessed as accurately as possible.
OPEX: Operational costs are maintenance costs of the wind turbine, paybacks to your bank (from the loan for the wind turbine), purchase of energy (in case of insufficient wind or no operations of the turbine), insurances, and whatever costs are needed to keep the wind turbine operational.
Revenues
After we learned a bit about costs, the key questions are whether, when, and how we earn money? For our wind turbine the key incoming money (revenue) is that we save money by less energy we have to buy from the grid (i.e. our energy bill is reduced). We can also earn money by selling excess energy to others in our energy community or back to the grid (although the latter is not a good income at all). And on top of that, subsidies could be an income. But subsidies are not always available, could change over time, have a different duration, or are dependant on the energy produced or the installed power. Something which should be looked at in a lot more detail.
Business case
The business case is a report or calculation which brings all elements together and evaluates whether the investment will pay off and which options, and also which risks, we will encounter. If, after consideration of all costs and revenues over the lifetime of our wind turbine, the business case is positive for the options we have selected, we will end up with a positive return on our investments, after a payback time which is (considerably) shorter than the lifetime of our wind turbine. That is the idea an we would very much like this to happen for your site!
What can justASK! do for you?
justASK! will analyse the costs and revenues based on the simulation(s) we have done. We will assist you in case you will get subsidies for the wind turbine during the application phase and in asking the subsidies from the right administrative body. We will set up a business case for your wind turbine and we will discuss all the options with you. The final decision can be made, based on all the aforementioned information! Your wind turbine is now almost reality!
As we said before, justASK! will assist you in managing the wind turbine project, starting from the overall analysis of your site, measurements and analysis of wind, simulation of power production and consumption, legal applications, subsidies, costs, business case analysis, and engineering aspects. It's a lot to consider but together we can do. JUST ASK!