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>The 80-meter blades of the MHI Vestas V164 make the machine almost as high as the Times Square Tower in New York, and are so large that they were “a nightmare”

>The 80-meter blades of the MHI Vestas V164 make the machine almost as high as the Times Square Tower in New York, and are so large that they were “a nightmare” to transport on narrow country roads, Jens Tommerup, chief executive officer of the venture, said in an interview. That is understatement. Transporting the blades took 40% of the budget back in the late 00s IIRC.

jchung 11y ago
Super curious about this. Do you have a source? Any idea what equipment is needed to build these blades? I wonder at what point it becomes cheaper to move the equipment instead of the finished blades and build them on site. Or take a hard look at airships again http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/02/29/a-new-generation-of-airships-is-born http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/02/29/a-new-generatio...
- venomsnake 11y ago
  I will try to find. It was in peak oil/the oil drum years. The user was a guy called Jerome a Paris - investment banker that specialized/s in making wind farms happen. He made a breakdown of the costs withing a project. I think he had profile both in eurotrib and dailykos. Sadly my inability to formulate a coherent google search fails me now.
  - Someone 11y ago
    Google gives me zillions of hits on "cost of windfarm is transporting the blades". The first I looked at is http://windpower.sandia.gov/other/031428.pdf http://windpower.sandia.gov/other/031428.pdf, which computes costs of transport in the 6-7% range. The second I opened is http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy14osti/61063.pdf http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy14osti/61063.pdf. From a quick glance, it has transport costs at around 10% of capital costs. Of course, transport prices can go up a lot by increasing transport distance or by changing location. Tops of mountains or densely populated areas may be way more expensive. I do not rule out that transport costs in some cases are way higher, but I don't think it is generaLily true. And that Jerome de Paris text may be on http://www.theoildrum.com/user/Jerome%20a%20Paris http://www.theoildrum.com/user/Jerome%20a%20Paris.
    - venomsnake 11y ago
      That was 8-10 years ago. The industry now is more mature. With pipelines of projects and know how and economy of scale. Back then everything was invented on the fly/ad-hoc and so on.
- Osiris30 11y ago
  It used to be about $10k/mile for the hardest routes in the US - where they would have to literally widen t-junctions, increase bridge height clearance etc. I also got most of my info back in the day by "Jerome A Paris" thread on Eurotribune - sadly that forums is no longer active now.

jchung 11y ago

Super curious about this. Do you have a source? Any idea what equipment is needed to build these blades? I wonder at what point it becomes cheaper to move the equipment instead of the finished blades and build them on site. Or take a hard look at airships again http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/02/29/a-new-generation-of-airships-is-born http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/02/29/a-new-generatio...

venomsnake 11y ago
I will try to find. It was in peak oil/the oil drum years. The user was a guy called Jerome a Paris - investment banker that specialized/s in making wind farms happen. He made a breakdown of the costs withing a project. I think he had profile both in eurotrib and dailykos. Sadly my inability to formulate a coherent google search fails me now.
- Someone 11y ago
  Google gives me zillions of hits on "cost of windfarm is transporting the blades". The first I looked at is http://windpower.sandia.gov/other/031428.pdf http://windpower.sandia.gov/other/031428.pdf, which computes costs of transport in the 6-7% range. The second I opened is http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy14osti/61063.pdf http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy14osti/61063.pdf. From a quick glance, it has transport costs at around 10% of capital costs. Of course, transport prices can go up a lot by increasing transport distance or by changing location. Tops of mountains or densely populated areas may be way more expensive. I do not rule out that transport costs in some cases are way higher, but I don't think it is generaLily true. And that Jerome de Paris text may be on http://www.theoildrum.com/user/Jerome%20a%20Paris http://www.theoildrum.com/user/Jerome%20a%20Paris.
  - venomsnake 11y ago
    That was 8-10 years ago. The industry now is more mature. With pipelines of projects and know how and economy of scale. Back then everything was invented on the fly/ad-hoc and so on.
Osiris30 11y ago
It used to be about $10k/mile for the hardest routes in the US - where they would have to literally widen t-junctions, increase bridge height clearance etc. I also got most of my info back in the day by "Jerome A Paris" thread on Eurotribune - sadly that forums is no longer active now.