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Old Wind Farm Life Extension vs. Full Repowering: A Review of Economic Issues and a Stochastic Application for Spain

Author

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  • Luis M. Abadie

    (Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3), Scientific Campus, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, 48940 Leioa, Spain)

  • Nestor Goicoechea

    (Escuela de Ingeniería de Bilbao, Universidad del País Vasco-Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea UPV/EHU, 48013 Bilbao, Spain)

Abstract

The installation of wind power technology is growing steadily and the trend can be expected to continue if the objectives proposed by the European Commission are to be achieved. In some countries a considerable percentage of installed wind power capacity is near the end of its useful lifetime. In the case of Spain, the figure is 50% within five years. Over the last 20 years, wind energy technology has evolved considerably and the expected capacity factor has improved, thus increasing annual energy production, and capital expenditure and operational expenditure have decreased substantially. This paper studies the optimal decision under uncertainty between life extension and full repowering for a generic wind farm installed in the Iberian Peninsula when the future hourly electricity prices and the capacity factor evolve stochastically and seasonally. The results show that in economic terms, full repowering is the best option, with a net present value of €702,093 per MW installed, while reblading is the second best option. The methodology can be transferred to other specific wind farms in different electricity markets and can be used to develop national wind energy policy recommendations to achieve projected shares in the electricity mix.

Suggested Citation

  • Luis M. Abadie & Nestor Goicoechea, 2021. "Old Wind Farm Life Extension vs. Full Repowering: A Review of Economic Issues and a Stochastic Application for Spain," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-24, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:12:p:3678-:d:578522
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Windemer, Rebecca, 2023. "Acceptance should not be assumed. How the dynamics of social acceptance changes over time, impacting onshore wind repowering," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    2. João Agra Neto & Mario Orestes Aguirre González & Rajiv Lucas Pereira de Castro & David Cassimiro de Melo & Kezauyn Miranda Aiquoc & Andressa Medeiros Santiso & Rafael Monteiro de Vasconcelos & Lucas , 2024. "Factors Influencing the Decision-Making Process at the End-of-Life Cycle of Onshore Wind Farms: A Systematic Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-42, February.
    3. Brooks, Sam & Mahmood, Minhal & Roy, Rajkumar & Manolesos, Marinos & Salonitis, Konstantinos, 2023. "Self-reconfiguration simulations of turbines to reduce uneven farm degradation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 1301-1314.
    4. Doukas, H. & Arsenopoulos, A. & Lazoglou, M. & Nikas, A. & Flamos, A., 2022. "Wind repowering: Unveiling a hidden asset," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).

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