Massive Arctic region in the northwest part of Russia might be built up with wind farms thanks to the RUSTEC project. The energy will be transported to Europe through Norway and Finland, helping the continent to meet their renewable energy goals.
It is known that as the speed of wind increases, the ratio of generated electricity to the cost of wind turbines becomes higher, which consequently brings down the cost of wind power. It is very important, however, when considering the cost of wind power, to include the operation and maintenance cost as well, although their influence is not as big as the one of wind speed.
Considering that the region is characterized with exceptionally strong winds, it can be expected that the generated electricity will be much cheaper than what is provided by offshore European plants. Offshore plants generally produce more electricity than onshore ones, due to the higher wind speeds. However, the electricity from offshore farms is more expensive, despite their higher performance, mainly because of operational and maintenance costs.
Patrick Willems, the project manager of the IFC’s program to develop renewable energy in Russia, stated that the inspiration for this came from the DESERTEC plan to construct solar stations in Sahara.
Keeping in mind that wind farms are not so common in Russia, and the reason is not their bulk of oil and gas resources, such wind farm project might give a boost to renewable energy production in the country.
