Small Airports Can't Hide High Costs Of Intermittent Energy -- September 14, 2015

The other day I mentioned putting in solar energy at airports "worked" because one could "hide" the costs inside the overall operating budget for the airport, and increasing landing fees to pay for expensive intermittent energy.

It looks like I was right on target. Smaller airports with a much smaller operating budget can't hide the high cost of intermittent energy as evidenced by this report out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin:

Construction of a proposed 5-acre solar energy farm at Mitchell International Airport would not be a good investment for the county or the airport, a consultant concludes in a report to the Milwaukee County Board.

The cost of building an array of solar panels needed to generate one megawatt of power is estimated at $6 million.

Although using that much solar power would reduce airport electricity purchases from We Energies by $80,000 a year, it could take as long as 75 years to pay back or recover the county's initial investment, according to the consultant's report.

The report suggests a smaller publicly owned solar array might be financially feasible if enough grant funds are available to significantly reduce costs.

Look at that: a megawatt of intermittent (solar) power is estimated at $6 million.

From an earlier post:

From an August 25, 2014, post, this is 30-second sound bite for "cost of renewable megawatt":

• Solar: $3 million / MW
• Wind: $2.5 million / MW
• Natural gas: $865,000 / MW