The World Renewable Energy Congress is a world conference on renewable energy. Held every two years, the Congress provides an international forum that attracts several hundred delegates from nearly 100 countries.

The eighth Congress and Expo was held in Denver, Colorado USA, August 29 through September 3, 2004.

The World Renwable Energy Congress web site is: http://www.wrenuk.co.uk/congresses.html

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Golden, CO) News Release is located at http://www.nrel.gov/news/press/2004/393.html

I presented my paper, A Worksheet for Computing the Cost (US$/MWh; €/MWh) of Electricity Generated at a Model 1 MW Grid Connected Colorado USA Wind Turbine, at the Wind Energy Topic # 7 Technical Session- Future Prospects, Economics and Financing , Friday, September 2 from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm.

This paper presents a worksheet to compute the levelized cost of electricity (US$/MWh) generated at a model 1MW grid connected Colorado sited wind turbine. The worksheet converts US$ monetary values into €. This paper briefly reviews the technical and economic basis for measuring the cost of wind electricity. The technical analysis involves predicting the physical life and electric production of the model wind turbine.  The economic analysis involves using a financial annuity to cost account for the capital recovery (depreciation) of the initial capacity cost and for the financial expense (interest) of using the financial capital during the predicted physical life of the turbine. The paper discusses the worksheet’s computational algorithm, benchmark inputs [foreign exchange rate-US$1.22/€, capacity-1MW, capacity cost-US$1,000,000/MW, turbine efficiency, physical life-25 yr, wind resource, levelized cost method, interest rate-10%, fixed (5% of capacity cost) and variable (US$7.50/MWh) operating and maintenance costs], and computed outputs [yearly electric output-3,066MWh/yr and Total Levelized Cost-US$59.74/MWh (€48.97/MWh)]. Based on the computed Total Levelized Cost and an assumed 20% mark-up at retail on the current cost of Colorado’s regular household grid electricity, wind electricity is cost competitive. Readers entering different input variable values might reach a different conclusion.

During the WREC VIII, I stayed in Georgetown, CO (in the mountains west of Denver) instead of at the WREC VIII Conference Hotel.

Below is a picture of the Georgetown near where I stayed (winter scene).

Below is a picture of I-70 near near Georgetown (summer scene).