Data Collection for Current U.S. Wind Energy Projects: Component Costs, Financing, Operations, and Maintenance; January 2011 - September 2011

DNV Renewables (USA) Inc. (DNV) used an Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Cost Model to evaluate ten distinct cost scenarios encountered under variations in wind turbine component failure rates. The analysis considers 1) a Reference Scenario using the default part failure rates within the O&M Cost Model, 2) High Failure Rate Scenarios that increase the failure rates of three major components(blades, gearboxes, and generators) individually, 3) 100% Replacement Scenarios that model full replacement of these components over a 20 year operating life, and 4) Serial Failure Scenarios that model full replacement of blades, gearboxes, and generators in years 4 to 6 of the wind project. DNV selected these scenarios to represent a broad range of possible operational experiences. Also in thisreport, DNV summarizes the predominant financing arrangements used to develop wind energy projects over the past several years and provides summary data on various financial metrics describing those arrangements.