Life cycle assessment and life cycle cost analysis of a 40 MW wind farm with consideration of the infrastructure

Wind power is being used on a large scale worldwide. While a few studies have employed the life cycle assessment method to examine the economic and environmental trade-offs of wind power, the impacts of wind farm infrastructure-such as civil and electrical works-have not been thoroughly taken into consideration. Thus, it remains difficult to accurately grasp the entire environmental impacts of wind energy systems. In this study, a newly built onshore 40-megawatt (MW) wind farm in China has been selected for conducting life cycle analysis with consideration of the infrastructure. Resource and energy-related inventory data were gathered over the wind farm's life cycle, including the phases of materials and manufacturing, transport, construction and installation, operations, and end-of-life. The results showed that the entire greenhouse gas emissions intensity was 16.4-28.2 gCO(2) eq./kWh for the onshore 40 MW wind farm, which is slightly higher than those for nuclear power (10.9-13.9 gCO(2) eq./kWh) and hydropower (3.1-3.9 gCO(2) eq./kWh). It is almost comparable than photovoltaic power (16.0-40.0 gCO(2) eq./kWh), but significantly lower than those for thermal power (810-820 gCO(2) eq./kWh) and biomass power (similar to 200 gCO(2) eq./kWh). Additionally, life cycle cost analysis indicated that the levelized cost of electricity from wind power was approximately 0.01-0.02 USD/kWh.

Automated summary

Wind power, especially onshore wind farms, has been widely used globally. A study conducted on a newly built 40MW wind farm in China with consideration of infrastructure showed that the greenhouse gas emissions intensity was slightly higher compared to nuclear and hydropower, almost comparable to photovoltaic power, yet significantly lower than thermal power and biomass power. Life cycle cost analysis indicated that the levelized cost of electricity from wind power was relatively low at around 0.01-0.02 USD/kWh.