Wind energy Growing; Costs Declining
There are dramatic changes in wind energy - production is growing rapidly and costs declining significantly
SPP reports on April 27 the regional power system set new records for wind and renewable energy generation. On that day SPP met 78.2% of its system load with renewables; 73.2% was wind.
The main reason is wind is currently generally cheaper than power produced by fossil fuels. This is shown in the Lazard Levelized Cost of Energy - a well-accepted industry report showing the comparative costs of energy based on generation technology.
The November 2019 summary (below) shows wind is cheaper than coal and competitive with natural gas. Here's the full report which provides additional detail.
The Southwest Power Pool – IPL is a member – serves a population of 17.2 million which happen to live where wind energy is readily available.
The Southwest Power Pool includes all or portions of the four states with the largest US wind production – Texas, Iowa, Oklahoma and Kansas.
IPL obtains some of its power from the SSP wholesale marketplace and has two Kansas wind energy purchase power agreements - a long-term contracts to buy power.
IPL has a 2008 15MW agreement for wind energy from Smoky Hills Wind Farm which expires in 2029. The second is a 2015 20MW agreement with Marshall Wind Farm which expires in 2036.
Kansas ranked fourth in U.S. wind production in 2019. The top three states in order were Texas, Iowa and Oklahoma. All or portions of the four top wind producing states are located within the Southwest Power Pool.
The recently released SPP annual report for the Southwest Power Pool notes the rapid growth of wind and renewable energy.
“A decade ago, serving even a quarter of our load with renewable generation wouldn’t have been possible, but today it is almost a daily occurrence.” the annual report quotes Bruce Rew, SPP senior vice president of operations.
In 2008, wind energy made up just 3% of SPP's annual wind production growing to 27.4% in 2019.
In Kansas, wind overtook coal as the major energy producer in 2019 according to a wind industry group. Out of total Kansas energy production, wind accounted for 41% while coal declined to 33%. IPL has two separate Kansas wind contracts.
Great River Energy, a large Minnesota electrical cooperative, is in the process of closing large coal-fired plants replacing the lost generation with wind power. The utility expects to generate two-thirds of its power through wind.