Several million people employed to do just one job sounds like an awful lot, but across a global population of 7+ billion, it's really not and would be in line with many industries. In 1920 the UK employed 1.2 million just in coal mining, out of a total population of 43 million - probably only half of which was working.
Indeed it is. That brings the total to 1387 MWh or 96 days energy payback.
Let's be honest, such a decision would be carefully considered (for cost & commercial risk reasons if nothing else) and not at the whim of an installation contractor. The integrity of the foundation could be check and verified the same as for similar important structures and the mounting system is a ring of anchor bolts or similar, hardly an insurmountable engineering challenge to reuse. If a larger, heavier turbine exceeds the design capacity of the old foundation then one or the other can't be used, but as sendler says, these huge foundations are an investment that ought to have reuse as a key design criteria. I'd be surprised if they don't already!
Hillhater said:9.7 x100 = 970 MWh
And i wouldnt be too confident that an instalation contractor would risk mounting a new bigger, heavier, taller, multi million dollar turbine, on an unknown 20 yr old foundation ....even if the mounting system was , by some fluke, identical .
Indeed it is. That brings the total to 1387 MWh or 96 days energy payback.
Let's be honest, such a decision would be carefully considered (for cost & commercial risk reasons if nothing else) and not at the whim of an installation contractor. The integrity of the foundation could be check and verified the same as for similar important structures and the mounting system is a ring of anchor bolts or similar, hardly an insurmountable engineering challenge to reuse. If a larger, heavier turbine exceeds the design capacity of the old foundation then one or the other can't be used, but as sendler says, these huge foundations are an investment that ought to have reuse as a key design criteria. I'd be surprised if they don't already!