In this article, Grok 4 and I get into the technical, the structural, and the consequential cost penalties of addressing “intermittency, backup, storage, and transmission." We do so by first exposing the deception of the often-quoted LOCE (Levelized Cost Of Electricity), and secondly, by installing the additional parts, systems, and robustness needed to make wind as reliable as a CCGT (Combined Cycle Gas Turbine) power plant. For example, we find that a small-to-medium land-based wind plant may have a life-cycle cost 5-6 times that of a comparable CCGT plant. At the other extreme, we find that the largest offshore wind plants in challenging locations, such as Hurricane Alley off the northeast Atlantic coast, may cost upwards of 40 times as much as a CCGT plant.
