How to make a wind turbine?

How much does a commercial wind turbine make annually?

• I was driving myself and my girlfriend out to her parents place the other day and passed one of those wind farms. It got me wondering how much do those commercial wind farms make annually in a windy part of the country? Im not interested in trying to buy one as im sure they probably cost millions to construct and maintain but I am curious to know.

• Answer:

  The cost of a 1.5 Megawatt GE wind turbine: $2,250,000.00 The annual Operations and Maintenance cost: $25,000.00 Gross POTENTIAL Income (1.5 MW @$52.225 per MW*24 hours per day*365 days per year)=$686,236.50 per year. But, the wind only blows about 30% of the time, so that number needs to be multiplied by .3 (686,236.50 * .3) = $205,870.95. Other things affect the amount they make too. The above assumes that the electricity is sold at $.052225 per kWh. Sometimes it is sold for more (California) or less (Texas.) When you take out the O&M cost, they make about $150,000.00 per year, on a $2,225,000.00 investment, for a return of about 8% per year. That doesn't sound spectacular, unless you realize there is very little risk (they can get hit by a tornado, or blown up by a terrorist) and most businesses aren't earning 8% right now on their funds. (The current rate of earning in the US is about 4.25% for most businesses.) So, they make economic sense.