A deep dive into wind economics, and why nine landowners said no to $50 million in hosting fees

It’s likely that wind farms need $85 a megawatt hour (MWh) or more to earn their cost of capital. At $95/MWh, a 10% equity IRR (internal rate of return) is in sight. Most participants say a higher price is needed, but I am not so sure.

The cost increases reflect underlying turbine costs,…