Wind Watch: More on the high cost and limited return of wind power

My column in the National Post about Ontario’s irrational windpower policy has elicited an electric surge of very interesting responses.

The general conclusion: However costly, however uneconomic, however outright irrational you might have imagined windpower to be - the reality is even worse. Some samples:
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During the 1950’s I worked for Ontario Hydro in Mechanical Maintenance of generating stations. Even then we found that we could not afford to keep small stations manned, because of the labour costs. All wind turbines are tiny power contributors, even when running, and no one seems to have taken into account that they will need to be maintained. When you look at the huge costs involved in putting them up, and then think about replacing a bearing, the original capital cost is insignificant. I predict that in a few years many of these will be abandoned, as the maintenance costs are unaffordable.

Wind Watch: Wind tower maker cutting about 20 percent of jobs

FARGO, N.D. — Wind tower manufacturer DMI Industries says it is cutting about 20 percent of its work force due to declining demand from developers struggling to get financing for wind projects.

Monday’s announcement came six months after Fargo-based DMI announced a major expansion.