A proposed wind farm installation is based on the use of thirty 2 MW wind turbines. The installed capital cost is estimated at $1000/kW and the annual operation and maintenance costs are estimated to be 3% of the original capital cost. Financing for the project is to come from two sources: (1) a 20-year loan at 7% (75%) , and (2) an equity investment that has a return of 15% (25%) . The average capacity factor of the wind farm is estimated to be 0. 35. Determine the estimated cost of energy ($/kWh) from this proposed wind farm.
A) $0. 49433/kWh
B) $0. 58677/kWh
C) $0. 62281/kWh
D) $0. 71396/kWh