185Wind Energy
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in the solutions. Unless you have specic data for your project, you can use the so-called
default options. Note that all of the default inputs can be modied and would need to be
changed for a real project. The following example demonstrates the application of SAM for
a hypothetical wind farm project using some of the default options.
Example 3.5: SAM Method to Determine Cost of Energy (COE)
Using the NREL’s SAM software, model a 50 MW utility wind farm using WTs of
2000 kW nameplate capacity. Assume the cost of each turbine is 1500 $/kWh, a 20 year
lifetime, an ination rate of 2%, an interest rate of 6%, a 25% federal tax credit, and a
1¢/kWh production incentive credit. Run this model for 2005 ...