Global review says wind farms are cheaper than you think — and could have prevented Fukushima
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By: University of Surrey
May 28, 2024
The researchers found that offshore turbines could have averted the 2011 nuclear disaster in Japan by keeping the cooling systems running and avoiding meltdown.
The team also found that wind farms are not as vulnerable to earthquakes.
Suby Bhattacharya, Professor of Geomechanics at the University of Surrey’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, said:
“Wind power gives us plentiful clean energy — now we know that it could also make other facilities safer and more reliable. The global review finds that greener really is cheaper — thanks to falling construction costs and new ways to reduce wind turbines’ ecological impact.”
One of the report’s starkest findings was that new wind farms can produce energy over twice as cheaply as new nuclear power stations.
The lifetime cost of generating wind power in the UK has fallen dramatically, from £160/MWh to £44/MWh.
This includes all the costs of planning, building, operating and decommissioning the wind farm over its entire life.
By comparison, the UK Government agreed to pay £92.50/MWh for energy produced at Hinkley Point C nuclear power station.
To read the full article, click here:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/05/240528134232.htm
