NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy

Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy

Operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC

This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy

Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308

Technical Report

NREL/TP-5000-73629

May 2019

Increasing Wind Turbine Tower 

Heights: Opportunities and 

Challenges

Eric Lantz,

1 Owen Roberts,1 Jake Nunemaker,1 Edgar 

DeMeo,2 Katherine Dykes,1 and George Scott1

1 National Renewable Energy Laboratory

2 Renewable Energy Consulting Services, Inc.
NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy

Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy

Operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC

This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy

Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

15013 Denver West Parkway

Golden, CO 80401

303-275-3000 • www.nrel.gov

Technical Report

NREL/TP-5000-73629

May 2019

Increasing Wind Turbine Tower 

Heights: Opportunities and 

Challenges

Eric Lantz,

1 Owen Roberts,1 Jake Nunemaker,1 Edgar 

DeMeo,2 Katherine Dykes,1 and George Scott1

1 National Renewable Energy Laboratory

2 Renewable Energy Consulting Services, Inc.

Suggested Citation

Lantz, Eric, Owen Roberts, Jake Nunemaker, Edgar DeMeo, Katherine Dykes, and 

George Scott. 2019. Increasing Wind Turbine Tower Heights: Opportunities and 

Challenges. Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory. NREL/TP-5000-73629.

https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy19osti/73629.pdf.
NOTICE

This work was authored [in part] by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, operated by Alliance for 

Sustainable Energy, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under Contract No. DE-AC36-

08GO28308. Funding provided by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy Wind Energy Technologies Office. The views expressed herein do not necessarily 

represent the views of the DOE or the U.S. Government.

This report is available at no cost from the National 

Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at 

www.nrel.gov/publications.

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reports produced 

after 1991 and a growing number of pre-1991 

documents are available 

free via www.OSTI.gov.

Cover Photos by Dennis Schroeder: (clockwise, left to right) NREL 51934, NREL 45897, NREL 42160, NREL 45891, NREL 48097, 

NREL 46526.

NREL prints on paper that contains recycled content.
iv

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under Contract No. DEAC36-08GO28308 with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Funding for the 

work was provided by the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Wind 

Energy Technologies Office. The authors thank Rick Damiani (NREL) for input and 

contributions to the Tower Systems Engineering simulations portion of this work as well as Eric 

Smith (Keystone Tower Systems), Jason Cotrell (RCAM Technologies), and Ryan Wiser 

(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) for reviewing prior versions of this manuscript. We 

also thank Rich Tusing (NREL) and Patrick Gilman (DOE) for their strategic input and guidance 

in the development and execution of this work. Finally, thanks to Sheri Anstedt (NREL) for 

editing support and Nicholas Gilroy (NREL) for cartography. Opinions represented in this article 

are the authors’ own and do not reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Energy or the U.S. 

government. Of course, any remaining errors or omissions are the sole responsibility of the 

authors. 
v 

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List of Abbreviations

1P rotor rotational frequency

3P blade passing frequency

BAR big adaptive rotor 

BAU business as usual

BOS balance of station

CapEx capital expenditures 

CSM Cost and Scaling Model 

GW gigawatts 

IEC International Electrotechnical Commission

kN kilonewton 

kNm kilonewton-meter

kW kilowatt 

LandBOSSE Land Balance of Station Systems Engineering 

LCOE levelized cost of energy

LDST large-diameter steel tower

MWh megawatt-hour 

OEM original equipment manufacturer

O&M operation and maintenance 

R&D research and development

RNA rotor nacelle assembly

TowerSE Tower Systems Engineering 

Wind Wind Integration National Dataset Toolkit

WTT Wind Tower Technologies 
vi 

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Executive Summary

This report presents the opportunities, challenges, and potential associated with increasing wind 

turbine tower heights, focusing on land-based wind energy technology. Our principal 

conclusions are as follows: 

• Wind resource quality improves significantly with height above ground. Over large 

portions of the country, our mesoscale resource data indicate an increase in annual average 

wind speed of 0.5 to 1.0 meters per second (m/s) when moving from 80 to 110 meters (m) 

and 1.0 to 1.5 m/s when moving from 80 to 160 m. 

• Wind speed differences translate to sizable capacity factor improvements. Although the 

observed variance is broad, median capacity factor gains with higher hub heights are 

estimated at approximately 2 to 4 percentage points when going from 80 to 110 m and an 

additional 2 to 4 percentage points when going from 110 to 140 m. Between 140 and 160 m, 

median capacity factor gains are approximately 1 percentage point. Relatively larger gains 

occur east of the Rocky Mountains, with the greatest gains sprinkled throughout the 

Heartland, the Midwest, and the Northeast.

• Based on first-order cost estimates informed by current technology, the most wind-rich 

regions of the country generally show an economic preference for the lowest considered

tower height; higher hub heights (e.g., 110 m and 140 m) are often preferred in more 

moderate wind speed regions. This result is consistent with industry experience to date. 

• Higher nameplate and lower specific power turbines (e.g., 150 to 175 watts per square 

meter) also show a general economic preference for the lowest considered tower height; 

however, these larger turbines require tower heights of at least 110 m. Tower heights of 

140 m and in some cases 160 m tend to be preferred in more moderate wind speed areas. 

• The highest nameplate capacity turbine we considered (4.5 megawatts) has a relatively 

greater preference for 140-m hub heights than similar 3-megawatt-class turbines. This 

observation is driven by the proportionally lower cost associated with taller towers and tall 

tower installations in dollars per kilowatt ($/kW) for larger turbines and indicates that turbine 

scaling (which offers additional cost saving potential) and taller tower deployment is likely to 

occur in parallel.

• Future tower innovations could make higher hub heights more attractive. In a tower 

cost-bounding scenario, where we apply a fixed $200/kW tower cost for each turbine at all 

hub heights, we see an economic preference for 160-m tower heights in 70% to 90% of sites, 

depending on the specific turbine configuration. 

• Reducing the cost of realizing taller towers is critical to capturing the value of higher 

wind speeds at higher above ground levels as well as for increasing the viability of wind 

power in all regions of the country.

• Additional factors that could impact tower height include blade tip clearance 

requirements, balance-of-station costs, turbine nameplate capacity, and specific power. 

Turbines with higher specific power ratings experience more energy gain for a given change 

in wind resource. Larger wind turbines tend to have an economic advantage for tall tower 

applications and offer additional cost saving potential in balance-of-station and turbine-level 
vii 

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economies of scale. Ultimately, wind turbine design reflects an optimization across an array 

of potential criteria; focusing on tower height alone may result in suboptimal outcomes. 

• When pursuing higher tower heights, a system-level incremental capital cost of less 

than $500/kW for low specific power turbines and potentially as low as $200/kW, 

particularly for higher specific power turbine configurations, could support a levelized 

cost of energy reduction across much of the country, and might also push less-energetic 

wind resource regions further along the path to economic competitiveness. Depending 

on the specific focus regions and turbine configurations under consideration, variance from 

this general guidance could be merited.

• To realize taller wind turbine towers, an array of potential concepts remain in play. 

These concepts rely on various materials spanning rolled tubular steel (currently the 

most widely used option), concrete, and lattice steel, for space frame designs, as well as 

hybrid designs that use a combination of concepts. Although there are clear advantages 

and disadvantages to each known concept, the future design of tall wind turbine towers 

remains to be determined. At the same time, our examination suggests that tubular towers can 

continue to be viable at the higher above-ground heights, particularly with continued 

advances in control technology that allow for reliable use of soft-soft designs. Tower erection 

strategies and innovation may also be a determining factor in the viability of future tall tower 

concepts. 

Notable caveats in this analysis include uncertainty in the underlying resource data, which 

increases at higher above ground levels, coupled with high sensitivity in terms of the analysis 

results to the assumed wind shear. In addition, our capital expenditure and levelized cost of 

energy estimates are based on cost characterizations that generally reflect modern state-of-the-art 

technology and do not consider the potential for future innovations to alter the capital 

expenditures required to achieve a given tower height. Finally, the tower height economic 

preference analysis is limited to tower heights of 80 m, 110 m, 140 m, and 160 m; in many cases, 

real-world economically preferred tower heights will likely fall between these points. 

Future research needs elicited from this work include activities that quantify and ultimately 

reduce the uncertainty of the wind resource data, particularly at higher above ground levels. 

More robust cost assessments and analysis including more sensitivities as well as evaluation of 

specific technology opportunities and alternative turbine configurations would also be valuable 

and further inform the potential for innovative solutions to capture value from taller towers. 
viii

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Table of Contents

1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 A Brief History of Wind Power Technology ................................................................................ 1

1.2 Analysis Objectives and Organization .......................................................................................... 3

2 Tower Opportunities and Cost Estimation ........................................................................................ 4

2.1 Wind Speed Change with Height Above Ground Level ............................................................... 4

2.2 Capacity Factor Change with Height Above Ground Level ......................................................... 6

2.3 Levelized Cost of Energy Estimations........................................................................................ 10

2.4 Breakeven Cost Analysis for Turbines with Taller Towers........................................................ 22

3 Tower Design Options and Related Analysis .................................................................................. 27

3.1 Systems Engineering Steel Tower Simulations........................................................................... 27

3.1.1 Tower Optimization Method.......................................................................................... 27

3.1.2 Tower Optimization Case Study .................................................................................... 29

3.1.3 Results............................................................................................................................ 30

3.2 Innovation Opportunities for Additional Alternative Tall Tower Technologies......................... 32

3.2.1 Full-Concrete Field-Cast Towers................................................................................... 32

3.2.2 Hybrid Concrete and Tubular Steel Towers................................................................... 33

3.2.3 Lattice/Space Frame....................................................................................................... 34

3.2.4 Comparing and Contrasting Competing Tower Alternatives......................................... 35

4 Insights for Tower Design and Innovation....................................................................................... 37

4.1 Analysis Results and Insights...................................................................................................... 37

4.1.1 Wind Resources.............................................................................................................. 37

4.1.2 Capacity Factors............................................................................................................. 37

4.1.3 Energy Costs .................................................................................................................. 37

4.1.4 Breakeven Costs ............................................................................................................. 38

4.1.5 Tall Tower Options........................................................................................................ 38

4.2 Analysis Results Discussion........................................................................................................ 39

4.3 Lessons Learned for Evaluating Tall Tower Opportunities........................................................ 40

5 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................ 42

6 References .......................................................................................................................................... 43
ix

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List of Figures

Figure 1. Difference in mean annual wind speed at 110 m above ground level relative to 80 m, 

based on the Wind Toolkit................................................................................................................... 5

Figure 2. Difference in mean annual wind speed at 160 m above ground level relative to 80 m, 

based on the Wind Toolkit................................................................................................................... 6

Figure 3. Estimated net capacity factor, all turbines and hub heights.................................................. 8

Figure 4. Estimated difference in net capacity factor, all turbines and hub heights, relative to the 

Today turbine at 80 m (percentage points)........................................................................................ 9

Figure 5. Estimated difference in net capacity factor, all turbines and hub heights, relative to the 

lowest hub height available per platform (percentage points)........................................................ 9

Figure 6. Estimated total installed capital cost by turbine and hub height ........................................ 13

Figure 7. Estimated LCOE for each Wind Toolkit pixel, assuming the Low-SP 4.5-MW turbine at a 

110-m hub height................................................................................................................................ 14

Figure 8. Estimated LCOE for each Wind Toolkit pixel, assuming the Low-SP 4.5-MW turbine at a 

160-m hub height................................................................................................................................ 15

Figure 9. Estimated LCOE for each Wind Toolkit pixel; all turbines and all applicable hub heights

.............................................................................................................................................................. 16

Figure 10. Estimated LCOE differences for each Wind Toolkit pixel, relative to the Today turbine 

at 80 m ................................................................................................................................................. 16

Figure 11. Calculated preferred hub height by turbine configuration, based on estimated 

performance and costs...................................................................................................................... 18

Figure 12. Calculated economically preferred hub heights for the Today turbine, based on 

estimated costs and performance .................................................................................................... 19

Figure 13. Calculated economically preferred hub heights for the BAU turbine, based on estimated 

costs and performance...................................................................................................................... 19

Figure 14. Calculated economically preferred hub height for the Low-SP 3.25-MW turbine, based 

on estimated costs and performance............................................................................................... 20

Figure 15. Calculated economically preferred hub height for the Low-SP 4.5-MW turbine, based on 

estimated costs and performance .................................................................................................... 20

Figure 16. Estimated LCOE differences for each Wind Toolkit pixel, assuming $200/kW tower 

costs, relative to the Today turbine at 80 m .................................................................................... 21

Figure 17. Calculated preferred hub height by turbine configuration, based on estimated 

performance and costs, assuming $200/kW tower cost ................................................................ 22

Figure 18. Breakeven costs for all turbines and all hub heights ......................................................... 23

Figure 19. Estimated LCOE for the Today turbine at the 80-m hub height......................................... 24

Figure 20. Breakeven costs for the BAU turbine at the 110-m hub height ......................................... 25

Figure 21. Breakeven costs for the BAU turbine at the 140-m hub height ......................................... 25

Figure 22. Breakeven costs for the Low-SP 4.5-MW turbine at the 110-m hub height ...................... 26

Figure 23. Breakeven costs for the Low-SP 4.5-MW turbine at the 140-m hub height ...................... 26

Figure 24. Optimization results for soft-stiff tower design cases........................................................ 30

Figure 25. Optimization results for soft-soft tower design cases........................................................ 31
x 

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List of Tables

Table 1. Turbine Configurations Used To Estimate Capacity Factors at Higher Hub Heights ........... 7

Table 2. Tower Design Variables ............................................................................................................. 28

Table 3. Tower Design Constraints......................................................................................................... 28

Table 4. Tower Optimization Cases......................................................................................................... 29

Table 5. IEA Wind Task 37 Land-Based Low Wind Speed Turbine Configuration Data .................... 29

Table A1. Detailed Levelized Cost of Energy Cost Inputs .................................................................... 46

Table A2. Net Capacity Factor Change Statistics, Relative to the Today Turbine at 80 m................ 47

Table A3. Net Capacity Factor Breakpoints ........................................................................................... 48

Table A4. Levelized Cost of Energy Summary Statistics ($/megawatt-hour [MWh])......................... 49

Table A5. Levelized Cost of Energy Breakpoints .................................................................................. 50

Table A6. Average State Levelized Cost of Energy ($/MWh)................................................................ 51

Table A7. Average State Breakeven Cost ($/kW)................................................................................... 54
1 

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1 Introduction

Wind power is one of the fastest-growing sources of new electricity generation in the United 

States. Since the early 2000s, annual investments in new wind capacity have exceeded the 

billion-dollar threshold, with investments in recent years often more than $10 billion annually. 

Cumulative installed capacity was estimated at more than 96 gigawatts (GW) at year-end 2018 

(American Wind Energy Association [AWEA] 2019) and wind power supplied approximately 

6.6% of total electricity generation in 2018 (Energy Information Administration 2019). The 

recent growth of the wind power industry has been spurred, in part, by innovation and 

subsequent reductions in costs coupled with state and federal policy support. 

Looking ahead, further cost reduction is anticipated to be critical to continued economic 

competitiveness. This is due, in part, to competitive pressure from low-cost natural gas and solar 

photovoltaics (Mai et al. 2017; Dykes et al. 2017). Notably, however, with continued cost 

reduction, economic deployment of wind energy through 2050 could be more than 430 GW and 

possibly as high as 550 GW, with wind power supplying between 38% and 46% of total 

electricity generation (Mai et al. 2017). Moreover, the quantity of available wind energy resource 

is such that the opportunity for capturing thousands of terawatt-hours of low-cost, clean wind 

energy remains of significant interest.

Key technology attributes enabling cost reductions realized to date include advancements that 

have resulted in the capture of turbine, balance of station (BOS), and operation and maintenance 

(O&M) economies of scale as well as increased energy production per turbine and per unit of 

installed capacity. More specifically, increased energy production has been realized with taller 

towers that place turbines into higher-quality resource regimes as well as larger rotors that enable 

more of the wind passing by the turbine to be converted into electricity. Basic science research 

and development (R&D) coupled with industry innovation has allowed tower height and turbine 

rotors to grow and increase energy capture while simultaneously eliminating excess material, 

improving production processes, and maintaining reliability, enabling this increased energy to be 

achieved at little to no capital cost penalty. 

To further drive down costs, wind turbine researchers, designers, and engineers continue to 

pursue strategies that could use even higher hub heights to be economically attractive. Higher 

hub heights remain of interest due to the more energetic wind resource that exists at higher above 

ground levels as well as the need to provide additional clearance for increasingly long blades that 

maximize energy capture per turbine. In this context, the current analysis seeks to understand and 

explore the potential opportunity space around tall wind turbine tower technologies. We also 

demonstrate a new approach to analyzing technology opportunity and potential across a broad 

geographic area, in this case the contiguous United States. This approach is useful when 

evaluating wind technology given the significant spatial variability in resource quality and the 

impact that spatial variability has on optimal technology design. 

1.1 A Brief History of Wind Power Technology

In the 1980s, a commercial wind turbine was approximately 100 kilowatts (kW) in nameplate 

capacity and had a hub height and rotor diameter that were both on the order of 20 meters (m). 

By the early 1990s, a typical commercial turbine was approximately 300 kW in nameplate 

capacity and had a hub height and rotor diameter that were both on the order of 30 m. By the 
2 

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early 2000s, machines had achieved a nameplate capacity in excess of 1 megawatt (MW) and a 

rotor diameter and hub height of approximately 70 m. Most recently, wind turbines installed in 

the United States in 2018 had a nameplate capacity averaging 2.4 MW, rotor diameters averaging 

116 m, and hub heights averaging about 88 m (AWEA 2019). In Germany, where the wind 

resource is often of lower quality and developable land area is more limited, designers are forced 

to consider energy production per unit of land area as well as cost per unit of energy among other 

factors, with optimums favoring larger turbines. The average nameplate capacity for projects 

commissioned in 2017 in Germany was 2.97 MW; average rotor diameter was 113 m, and 

average hub height was 128 m (Deutsche WindGuard 2018). In the German context, larger 

machines and more design constraints (e.g., land area) have resulted in higher wind cost of 

energy relative to the United States (Hand et al. 2019; Vitina et al. 2015). Nonetheless, these 

larger turbines have proven preferable for German sites. Although design conditions and 

optimums in Germany differ from those in the United States and other parts of the world, the 

German data illustrate that under the right conditions a continued push toward higher hub heights

provides value. 

Driving trends in turbine configuration, scale, and cost of energy are fundamental economic 

considerations associated with wind turbine technology and design (Zayas et al. 2015). 

Historically, increased hub heights have resulted from a general trend of improved wind resource 

at levels higher above the ground that are less affected and slowed by surface roughness (e.g., 

trees, buildings) and local topography. At the fundamental level, hub height growth has been 

constrained by impacts on installation and erection cost, and the incremental cost of the taller 

tower relative to the additional energy that might be extracted from the improved wind resource 

quality found at higher above ground levels with the state-of-the-art turbine rotor nacelle 

assembly (RNA). More recently, hub height growth has also been impacted by transportation and 

logistics barriers that restrict the sectional tower diameter to fit under highway and railway 

underpasses. These transport constraints result in relatively inefficient tower designs from a 

material use and cost perspective, as compared to towers designed solely to meet their 

fundamental functional design requirements. 

In the United States, there has been a partial plateau in tower or hub height scaling (Wiser and 

Bolinger 2018). The leveling off of tower height is in part a function of the excellent wind 

resource available in the interior region of the United States and a function of the logistics and 

transport trends noted earlier—which require substantially greater quantities of steel at higher 

hub heights to maintain sufficient stiffness while adhering to the transport-dictated sectional 

diameter constraints. With respect to the former, the world-class wind resource present in the 

interior region of the United States—even at levels of 80 m above ground level—has allowed 

projects using modern technology to achieve performance levels that support levelized cost of 

energy (LCOE) values at or below $40/megawatt-hour (MWh) to $45/MWh (excluding the 

production tax credit). These performance levels have positioned wind to be competitive at 80-m 

hub heights as a fuel-saving, electricity-generating technology over the past several years, with 

the federal production tax credit in place. 

This is not to suggest that the incentives for continuing to pursue tall wind have diminished, 

rather that it simply has become more difficult to reap the rewards of turbine scaling as a result 

of additional constraints that must be addressed as well as the increasingly complex construction 

requirements of very large turbines. This is particularly true in regions that have very good 
3 

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resources at the heights above ground that are within reach of modern wind industry original 

equipment manufacturers (OEMs), as well as readily available transport and logistics 

capabilities. Evidence for the continued pursuit of tall wind in the United States exists in recent 

turbine offerings from the top-three global wind turbine OEMs: Vestas, GE, and Siemens. 

Combined, these three OEMs captured more than 90% of the U.S. market (AWEA 2017). In 

2016, each of these OEMs began marketing turbines in the 3-MW class, with rotor diameter 

offerings from approximately 100 m to 140 m, and tower heights from 75 m to 165 m.1

1.2 Analysis Objectives and Organization

This report has two primary objectives. First, it seeks to inform the opportunities and potential 

associated with increasing wind turbine hub heights. It also explores the conditions and locations 

where taller towers offer the most significant potential to increase wind technology performance

and reduce costs. This initial objective is discussed in Section 2. The second objective is to 

examine the status of tall tower technology as a key subcomponent of wind power advancement. 

This objective is discussed in Section 3, where we analyze the potential for continued innovation 

in tubular steel wind turbine towers and explore the status and potential for a select set of 

alternative tall tower technologies. Key findings and lessons learned are covered in Section 4. A 

brief summary and final conclusions are found in Section 5. The appendices include more 

resolved data on estimated LCOE, capacity factor change with height above ground, and 

breakeven cost.

 

1 Recent increases in the turbine scale and hub heights now being offered by OEMs generally are perceived to have 

been made more feasible by advanced turbine controls that allow the machines to avoid certain portions of the 

operating envelope that resulted in more conservative design requirements. Looking ahead, the opportunities created 

by continued evolution of advanced controls deserve continued attention and tracking.
4 

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2 Tower Opportunities and Cost Estimation

To begin to understand the potential for higher hub heights as a source of further wind power 

cost reduction, the authors assessed how taller towers could impact key indicators of wind 

energy viability across the nation. We begin by examining the change in wind speed that is 

achieved by increasing hub height from a baseline of 80 m typical of today’s commercial 

installations to 110 m and 160 m across the contiguous United States. Second, we quantify the 

impact this wind speed change could have on wind power capacity factors by estimating wind 

energy production for four wind turbine configurations. We conclude this portion of the analysis 

by estimating LCOE for these four turbine configurations and evaluating which hub height for 

each configuration tends to have the lowest LCOE, using cost and scaling estimates informed by 

recent state-of-the-art technology. LCOE and tower height preferences are also estimated for a 

sensitivity scenario wherein wind turbine tower costs are fixed at levels of $200/kW, even while 

turbines are able to scale and access hub heights up to 160 m. This additional sensitivity helps to 

inform the potential LCOE and preferred tower heights that might be achieved if tower R&D and 

innovations are very successful. 

2.1 Wind Speed Change with Height Above Ground Level

As a first step in characterizing the opportunity offered by achieving higher hub heights than the 

typical 80-m hub height for turbines installed in the United States over the past decade, we 

utilized wind speed data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Wind 

Integration National Dataset (Wind) Toolkit (https://www.nrel.gov/grid/wind-toolkit.html) to 

compare differences in mean annual wind speeds at each pixel or site within the contiguous 

United States. The Wind Toolkit is a mesoscale wind-resource data set that was funded by the 

U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Wind Energy 

Technologies Office, and created through the collaborative efforts of NREL and 3TIER.2 The 

data set includes meteorological data, including wind speed for more than 1.85 million locations 

in the contiguous United States for a period of 7 years between 2007 and 2013. Each pixel in the 

Wind Toolkit represents a 2-km-by-2-km grid cell. The data are generated by meteorological 

models that have used real-world historical input data to recreate a complete suite of output data 

to be used in analysis and research. The Wind Toolkit has wind speed data for multiple hub 

heights. For this analysis, we consider hub heights of 80 m, 110 m, 140 m, and 160 m above 

ground level, and relied on data from the 2012 calendar year. 

A significant caveat to these results that extends throughout the analysis is that the uncertainty in 

the wind speed data from the Wind Toolkit is not fully understood or characterized, particularly 

as one moves to higher above ground levels (e.g., 140 m and 160 m). Moreover, the analysis 

conducted here focuses only on the 2012 weather year. Some variability in the results therefore is 

likely when considering normal interannual resource variability. Anecdotal evidence from 

limited site-specific validation suggests that in some locations the uncertainty in the mesoscale 

data is large (e.g., potentially in excess of 1 meter per second [m/s]). Although the impact of this 

uncertainty is sizable and important and would undoubtedly impact the precise quantitative 

outcomes from the analysis, the broad trends and qualitative outcomes from the work are 

 

2 In the years since the Wind Toolkit was developed, 3TIER has been acquired by Vaisala

http://knowledge.vaisala.com/3TIER (accessed March 6, 2019).
5 

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generally useful in understanding the opportunity offered by further increases in hub heights for 

the wind turbines evaluated here. 

Figure 1 and Figure 2 illustrate the difference in mean annual wind speed in the Wind Toolkit 

when comparing 80-m and 110-m hub heights and 80-m and 160-m hub heights, respectively. 

These data show that nearly all regions of the country observe wind speed increases when 

moving to 110 m. Minor exceptions in this regard are in small isolated pockets in the Southwest 

and in California. These “negative” wind-shear locations have relatively rare topographical and 

meteorological patterns that drive these anomalies. West of the Rocky Mountains, the wind 

speed increase is largely in the 0- to 0.5-m/s increase category at 110 m. With the exception of 

the mountainous regions (e.g., along the Appalachian Mountains; the Ouachita Mountains of 

West Central Arkansas) and Florida, the portion of the country that falls east of the Rocky 

Mountains primarily sees a wind speed increase of 0.5- to 1.0-m/s when moving from 80 to 110 

m.

Figure 1. Difference in mean annual wind speed at 110 m above ground level relative to 80 m,

based on the Wind Toolkit 
6 

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Figure 2. Difference in mean annual wind speed at 160 m above ground level relative to 80 m,

based on the Wind Toolkit 

When moving from 80 to 160 m, the results are more pronounced and heterogenous. In much of 

the Interior West between the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada ranges, the improvements are still 

in the 0- to 0.5-m/s increase category but scattered throughout, and in a loose ring around this 

region significant portions see increases in wind speed that are in the 0.5- to 1.0-m/s category. 

Moving east from the Rocky Mountains, when comparing 80 m with 160 m greater increases 

(1.5–2.0 m/s) can be observed in the lower-lying portions of the central plains, in particular in 

the river valleys of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska, as well as along the upper Mississippi 

River Valley on the borders of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Increases of this magnitude also 

show up in Southwestern Texas, Missouri, and parts of Arkansas. The remaining portions of the 

Great Plains generally are in the 1.0- to 1.5-m/s category.

Moving further east, the mountainous regions of Tennessee and surrounding states continue to 

exhibit a 0–0.5 m/s increase in wind speed. These regions, however, are surrounded by larger

areas that observe increases that are more broadly in the 1.0- to 1.5-m/s range. Pennsylvania, 

New York, and Maine see a broad range of increases, with some areas in the 0.5- to 1.0-m/s 

category, some in the 1.0- to 1.5-m/s category, and some in the 1.5- to 2.0-m/s category. 

In general, these data suggest that the value of achieving higher hub heights—at least according 

to differences in mean annual wind speed—is widespread but most significant east of the Rocky 

Mountains. Within that region, the largest increase in wind speeds appear to be in the relatively 

low-lying areas that fall in otherwise very windy regions (e.g., the river valleys of the Great 

Plains). 

2.2 Capacity Factor Change with Height Above Ground Level

As a second step in understanding the potential value associated with placing wind turbines at

higher hub heights, we used hourly wind speed data from the Wind Toolkit coupled with four 
7 

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wind turbine power curves to estimate potential energy generation and capacity factors for these 

four turbines at multiple hub heights. Net capacity factors were estimated assuming a simple 

16.7% losses adjustment, which reflects a combination of array and electrical losses as well as 

turbine downtime. 

The four modeled turbines used to estimate capacity factors were intended to represent state-ofthe-art technology available today as well as potential turbines of tomorrow (Table 1). Our 

“Today,” or reference turbine, was calculated from the average nameplate capacity and rotor 

diameter of turbines installed in the United States in 2017 (Stehly et al. 2018). This composite 

turbine was 2.3 MW and had a rotor diameter of 113 m, resulting in a specific power of 

approximately 231 watts (W)/m2

. Our business as usual (BAU) turbine was intended to reflect 

turbine technology that under BAU or median conditions is expected to be the average turbine 

installed around the United States by 2030. This turbine was derived from the simple 

extrapolations of historical trends for turbines installed in the United States and has a nameplate 

capacity of 3.3 MW and a rotor diameter 156 m, resulting in a specific power of approximately 

173 W/m2

. 

Two additional turbine concepts reflect potential future turbines in the 3-MW and 4- to 5-MW 

class, respectively, that are “low specific power,” or Low-SP, turbines with specific power of 

approximately 150 W/m2. These turbine configurations were selected based on recent trends 

suggesting continued pursuit by turbine designers and researchers of relatively low specific 

power wind turbines (Wiser and Bolinger 2018). Given these trends, we sought to understand 

how turbines with even lower specific power relative to our Today and BAU configurations 

might compare and contrast, in terms of their ability to extract value from higher hub heights. 

Including configurations in the 3- to 5-MW range also helps to illuminate potential value from 

coupled turbine scaling and hub height increase. 

Table 1. Turbine Configurations Used To Estimate Capacity Factors at Higher Hub Heights

Today BAU Low-SP 3.25 MW Low-SP 4.5 MW

Nameplate CapacitTy (MW) 2.32 3.30 3.25 4.50

Rotor Diameter (m) 113 156 166 194

Specific Power (W/m2) 231 173 150 152

To estimate the capacity factor change associated with each increased hub height, a turbine 

power curve was calculated for each defined turbine configuration. These power curves were

then applied to the 2012 hourly wind speed data for each of the 1.85 million Wind Toolkit sites

or “pixels.” This process was completed at four hub heights for the Today turbine: 80 m, 110 m, 

140 m, and 160 m. Only three hub heights were considered for each of the other turbine 

configurations: 110 m, 140 m, and 160 m to allow for ground clearance when the turbine blades 

come closest to the ground. Notably, the Low-SP 4.5-MW turbine with an approximately 95-m 

blade likely does not have sufficient ground clearance to be commercially deployed at a 110-m 

hub height. Nevertheless, these data were included in the analysis results to help us understand 

what the opportunity could be at this hub height. The resulting data were then plotted by capacity 
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factor and frequency to understand the potential capacity factors across the continental United 

States for each turbine configuration and each hub height. 

Spatially, capacity factor trends are closely aligned with the wind speed increases displayed in 

Section 2.1. Figure 3 illustrates the range and distribution of specific capacity factor 

improvements for the four modeled turbines at each of the respective hub heights where they 

were analyzed. Figure 4 illustrates the differences in capacity factor in percentage points for each 

location in the Wind Toolkit data set for each turbine configuration and hub height, relative to 

the Today turbine at 80 m. In effect, these data illustrate the potential capacity factor difference 

relative to current state-of-the-art technology and project norms. Figure 5 is similar to Figure 4 

except that in Figure 5 the change in capacity factor is calculated relative to the lowest available 

hub height for a given turbine platform. In general, increases in hub height shift the resulting 

capacity factors to higher values. In many cases, as hub height changes, the frequency of certain

capacity factors is also changed. For the Today turbine, there is a noticeable shift to the right as 

one moves from 80 m to 110 m and to 140 m. The increase between 140 and 160 m is more 

subtle. Similar trends are observed when moving between 140 and 160 m for the BAU and LowSP turbines. 

Figure 3. Estimated net capacity factor, all turbines and hub heights
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Figure 4. Estimated difference in net capacity factor, all turbines and hub heights, relative to the 

Today turbine at 80 m (percentage points)

Figure 5. Estimated difference in net capacity factor, all turbines and hub heights, relative to the 

lowest hub height available per platform (percentage points)

Not surprisingly, the highest capacity factors are observed at 160 m and with the Low-SP 

turbines. Even at the higher specific power platforms of the Today and BAU turbines, however, 

the 160-m hub height yields substantial quantities of sites with 40% or greater capacity factors. 

For the Low-SP turbines, however, a significant number of sites have capacity factors even 
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greater than 50%; approximately 60% of the resource sites for these turbines have a capacity 

factor greater than 40%. 

In terms of capacity factor differences, the BAU turbine configuration has a large number of sites 

that are approaching a 10% increase in capacity factor relative to the Today turbine at 80 m—

even with a move to only 110 m. The Low-SP configurations see a large quantity of resource 

sites that exceed the 10% improvement level at 110 m relative to the Today turbine at 80 m, and 

many sites approach a 15% increase at 140 m. Based on the Wind Toolkit data, the benefit of 

achieving 160-m above-ground-level hub heights is estimated at approximately 1 percentage 

point in capacity factor, relative to 140 m. 

Focusing on the comparison in Figure 5, to the lowest available hub or tower height by platform, 

it is evident that the higher specific power Today turbine actually sees the largest magnitude of 

improvement in capacity factor from moving to higher hub heights. Although the lower specific 

power BAU and Low-SP turbines have higher absolute capacity factors, they also spend more 

time at full rated power, which limits their ability to increase annual energy production merely 

by increasing hub height. Of course, one must be cautious not to focus solely on the magnitude 

of the change as such characterizations can be overstated when comparing against a low value 

reference or starting point. Although somewhat more obscure, this effect can also be observed in 

the following LCOE analysis by noting that for a given platform, preferences for taller towers are 

somewhat lower with lower specific power. 

2.3 Levelized Cost of Energy Estimations

Data and analysis presented thus far have focused on the energy production potential associated 

with realizing higher wind turbine hub heights. Achieving these higher hub heights, however, 

would—all else being equal—require additional capital cost expenditure because of additional 

tower material requirements and increased BOS cost increases associated with lifting the nacelle 

and rotor to these higher above-ground-level heights.3 It is this trade-off between incremental 

capital cost expenditure and incremental energy production,4 coupled with the overall cost of 

energy for a given site, that ultimately determines the hub heights for commercial wind farms. 

Here, our analysis begins to shed light on the potential outcomes of this trade-off, as a function 

of LCOE, for all resource sites in the Wind Toolkit. 

Given significant uncertainty in the potential costs of the turbine technology and plants modeled, 

we do not anticipate our results to be the final word on LCOE or the relative competitiveness of 

tall wind towers. Instead, this section seeks to establish a method for examining the potential for 

higher hub heights from a continental perspective with computed LCOE results based on a firstorder set of cost assumptions. The results presented should be thought of more as scenarios with 

the findings contingent on the assumptions associated with the stated scenario. Additional 

follow-on work to further refine the cost characterizations and LCOE results is strongly 

 

3 Notably, this latter cost increase could be partially or fully offset by moving to a larger nameplate capacity 

(e.g., relative to the Today turbine), which for a fixed plant capacity results in fewer turbine lifts and roads and 

potentially reduced cabling requirements. Analysis to date suggests that indeed balance-of-station (BOS) cost 

savings associated with achieving higher nameplate capacity turbines could offset a potential BOS cost increase 

associated with installing nacelles and rotors on hub heights up to 160 m. 4 In reality, it is the balance between incremental cost and incremental power sales. Where there may be 

transmission capacity or energy constraints, the timing of any potential energy production increase is also important.
11 

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encouraged. Notwithstanding these caveats, the results do provide an indicator of the potential 

value of achieving higher hub heights across the continental United States. 

In addition to the uncertainty in the potential costs of future tall tower technologies and the 

evaluated tower heights, it is important to note that our cost estimates are primarily scaled from 

recent vintage wind turbine technology cost and scaling trends. They do not consider the 

potential for future innovations to impact cost and scaling functions for any turbine subsystem, 

including towers. 

In effect, the analysis represents an LCOE assessment based on extrapolation from recent scaling 

trends. To the extent that these trends are not indicative of innovation potential for the tower, the 

results will be biased toward relatively shorter towers. In other words, these results reflect a 

technology and cost snapshot based on scaling relationships of recent technology; in this sense, 

they should be somewhat indicative of the calculations and decisions that the development 

community has made in the very recent past. However, they may be less indicative of the 

calculations and decisions made in the future, as innovations that improve upon recent 

technology could have greater preference for tall towers. 

To evaluate potential LCOE impacts associated with increased hub heights, we first estimated 

the installed capital cost for each turbine configuration at each hub height analyzed in Section 

2.2. To characterize turbine capital cost, we used the 2015 NREL Cost and Scaling Model 

(CSM), which is a part of the larger NREL Wind Plant Integrated Systems Design and 

Engineering Model (WISDEM®) toolset and informs most costing estimates derived from the 

modeling toolset. The 2015 NREL CSM uses empirically derived—based on industry data points 

and semistructured interviews—component-level scaling relationships to ascertain the potential 

change in component costs associated with both higher hub heights and changes in rotor size. 

Given the vintage of the model and the related empirical data, these relationships are expected to 

be generally indicative of state-of-the-art technology from the 2012–2014 period. 

One update made to the default scaling relationships was in the blade mass scaling exponent. For 

this analysis, we apply a mass-scaling exponent of 2.2. This is based on more recent (2018) 

direct input from turbine designers and blade manufacturers, acquired in the parallel and ongoing 

U.S. Department of Energy “Big Adaptive Rotor” project. Estimated tower costs calculated in 

the model are believed to be somewhat optimistic relative to historical turbine installations, but 

anecdotal evidence suggests they may be conservative relative to emerging tall tower solutions 

under development today. The estimated nacelle and drivetrain costs are believed to be 

conservative, particularly for larger turbines, given the applied empirical data in the model

indicating that larger nameplate turbines may actually be more competitive than suggested here. 

An additional caveat in this cost characterization is that the 2015 NREL CSM does not consider 

potential changes in loads associated with these configurations. Changes in mass, and 

subsequently cost, are calculated based on the empirical scaling functions, not engineering 

analysis of specific designs or loads. Overall, this approach represents a relatively basic 

estimation of potential costs but provides an initial starting point for understanding LCOE 

impacts of these technological changes. 

To characterize plant BOS costs, we used the NREL Land Balance of Station Systems 

Engineering (LandBOSSE) model. This model was developed in calendar year 2018 and, on 
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December 20, 2018, initially was released to the public as version 1.0. To date, the model has 

been used and verified internally, and validated by a limited set of industry contacts during 

development. The LandBOSSE model is a process-based model that allows us to capture 

potential cost increases associated with lifting the rotor and nacelle to greater above-ground 

heights, as well as the potential cost savings associated with fewer lifts overall, as a function of 

increased turbine nameplate capacity.

The model in its current form is relatively comprehensive but has only simplistic collectionsystem cost algorithms and does not capture site access or transport and logistics costs. 

Moreover, the modeling approach applied assumes flat terrain. Moving very large cranes capable 

of lifting components to 160 m is difficult and risky, and moving cranes in complex terrain could 

require complete disassembly and reassembly for each turbine installation. These additional costs 

for complex terrain were not captured here. Additionally, we assumed that the nacelle will be 

split into 80-ton lifts, as some of the world’s largest mobile crawler cranes will be required for 

these lifts. Correspondingly, investigations into alternative erection technologies is suggested for 

future research. BOS estimates developed here assume 100 turbines in all cases but normalize 

costs to $/kW for the purposes of calculating total capital expenditures (CapEx). Depending on 

actual power plant sizes, this approach might overstate potential economies of scale for largercapacity facilities. Due diligence conducted since these results were developed suggests that the

estimated economies of scale embedded in these results are not likely to impact the qualitative 

results as the captured economies of scale for larger turbines remain significant even when 

applied to a fixed-capacity plant. Nevertheless, based on these modeling simplifications and 

limitations, the BOS benefit from larger turbines can be characterized as somewhat optimistic, 

and future research on BOS cost impacts is encouraged.

Based on the version 1.0 LandBOSSE model and the simplifying assumptions noted earlier, we 

estimate that the Today turbine would require an approximate 11% increase in BOS cost to move 

from 80 m to 160 m. The cost would change similarly for the BAU and Low-SP turbines to 

move from 110 m to 160 m. For the BAU and Low-SP turbines, however, this cost essentially is 

offset by the reduced number of turbines required to achieve a fixed plant size (e.g., 100 MW). 

In fact, the estimated cost savings from increased turbine size drives a calculated net savings in 

BOS cost, at least on a $/kW basis, for the larger turbines, ranging from 10% for the BAU and 

Low-SP 3.25-MW turbines to nearly 35% for the Low-SP 4.5-MW turbine—even at 160 m—

relative to the Today turbine at 80 m. 

Estimated total CapEx values based on the first-order cost characterization described earlier are 

shown in Figure 6, with a more detailed tabular breakdown provided in Appendix A. Based on 

CapEx alone, these data show the relative competitiveness of the Today turbine at 80 m as well 

as the relative BOS savings associated with larger turbine nameplate capacities, particularly in 

moving toward the higher hub heights. These cost estimates are best utilized to provide a context 

for how the capacity factor benefits associated with higher hub heights might begin to translate 

into LCOE impacts assuming basic scaling of costs from recent vintage technology. 
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Figure 6. Estimated total installed capital cost by turbine and hub height

The next step in assessing potential LCOE impacts was to estimate the remaining LCOE input 

variables, specifically operational expenditures (OpEx) and the fixed charged rate, a term that 

allows us to annualize the total capital cost estimate, considering the cost of capital (i.e., 

weighted-average cost of capital) as well as the relevant tax treatment, in terms of tax on 

assumed revenue and allowable depreciation. For these two values, we use an estimated $41/kW 

for OpEx, as informed by Wiser et al. (forthcoming) and Stehly et al. (2018) and 8% for the real 

fixed charge rate, commensurate with an implied nominal, after-tax weighted-average cost of 

capital of approximately 6.4%, and an implied real, after-tax weighted-average cost of capital of 

approximately 3.9%. Note that OpEx could increase for higher hub heights assuming all else 

remains equal and no improvements in reliability, as larger component replacements—such as 

gearboxes, main bearings, and blades—require larger cranes or greater labor costs for up-tower 

repairs. Additional downtime and lost revenue could also erode the capacity factor benefit 

estimated here. 

The final step in estimating LCOE values was to use these values along with the respective 

capacity factor data detailed in Section 2.2 to calculate site-specific LCOE for each Wind Toolkit 

resource pixel or site. The LCOE values were computed for each turbine configuration at each 

available hub height for all sites. Selected results from the LCOE calculations are illustrated in 

Figure 7 and Figure 8. Figure 7 shows the calculated LCOE for the Low-SP 4.5-MW turbine at a 

110-m hub height. Figure 8 shows the calculated LCOE for the Low-SP 4.5-MW turbine at 160 

m. Of course, changes in turbine configuration, estimated energy generation, CapEx, OpEx, and 

the fixed charge rate all could impact the results.

These results illustrate the potential competitiveness for 110- and 160-m hub heights based on 

the Low-SP 4.5-MW turbine. Based on the calculations applied here and this specific turbine 

configuration, much of the interior wind belt plausibly could support unsubsidized LCOE 

 $-

 $200

 $400

 $600

 $800

 $1,000

 $1,200

 $1,400

 $1,600

 $1,800

 $2,000

60 80 100 120 140 160 180

Estimated Total CapEx ($/kW)

Today BAU Low-SP 3.25 Low-SP 4.5
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between $20/MWh and $35/MWh at 110-m hub heights. Moreover, large swaths of the eastern 

half of the continental United States could achieve unsubsidized LCOE in the $35/MWh to 

$50/MWh range with nontrivial pockets of potential at lower LCOE values. Results in the 

Intermountain West and Pacific are more mixed, with large areas falling into virtually all 

reported cost bins. 

Figure 7. Estimated LCOE for each Wind Toolkit pixel, assuming the Low-SP 4.5-MW turbine 

at a 110-m hub height
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Figure 8. Estimated LCOE for each Wind Toolkit pixel, assuming the Low-SP 4.5-MW turbine 

at a 160-m hub height

Interestingly, at 160 m, the area of $20/MWh to $35/MWh LCOE is reduced, in the interior 

region, and the $50/MWh to $65/MWh is also reduced in parts of the east. This outcome is the 

result of the incremental estimated capital cost to realize 160-m tower heights and indicates 

somewhat lower competitiveness for the 160-m tower height, under the current estimated costs 

and performance at 160 m. 

To further illustrate the potential impact on LCOE, Figure 9 and Figure 10 detail the distribution

of LCOE values by turbine configuration and hub height. Recall that these LCOE values are 

indicative of recent vintage technology opportunities. Future innovation potential that may 

increase the relative competitiveness of a given turbine configuration or hub height would alter 

these results. Additional summary statistics of LCOE results are included in Appendix A. 
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Figure 9. Estimated LCOE for each Wind Toolkit pixel; all turbines and all applicable hub heights

Figure 10. Estimated LCOE differences for each Wind Toolkit pixel, relative to the Today turbine 

at 80 m 

Given cost data that are indicative of recent technology scaling trends, (see also Appendix A), 

the largest quantity of low LCOE values and the most sizable LCOE reductions appear to be 

generally associated with the Low-SP 4.5-MW turbine at a 110-m hub height. The 3-MW BAU 

and Low-SP 3.25-MW turbines, however, also appear to offer nontrivial opportunities to drive 
17 

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down cost at 110 m. The Today turbine LCOE results illustrate why current state-of-the-art 

commercial technology is most often deployed at a hub height of approximately 80 m. 

Real-world results will vary, of course, depending on the actual costs for these turbine platforms, 

including transport and logistics costs, which may disadvantage larger turbines with larger 

component sizes, relative to what is shown here. Moreover, these results are indicative of the 

national trends but may not correspond to subnational or regional economically preferred 

outcomes. Notwithstanding those caveats, these data suggest that if a single hub height was to be 

selected for deployments of tall tower technology based on our assumed cost and performance 

inputs, then 110 m would be preferred. Of course, in real-world commercial applications, 

developers could select the optimal hub height for a given site based on the available technology. 

These conclusions can be further examined by a direct comparison of hub heights for each 

specific turbine configuration. Figure 11 shows that, for the Today technology, the 80-m hub 

height is most commonly preferred from an LCOE perspective, applying our current costing 

assumptions. For the larger turbines, however, the 110-m hub height, which is also the lowest 

option for these turbines, dominates, with 140 m holding a sizable minority share that varies 

from approximately 15% to 35% of Wind Toolkit pixels. In these results, preferences for 140 m 

are typically associated with lower wind speed sites at 80 m that have relatively higher shear. 

Variability in the share of 140-m sites with the lowest LCOE is a function of the relative benefit 

that can be gained from a given turbine configuration achieving a higher hub height (i.e., the 

higher specific power of the BAU turbine means that it is able to extract relatively more benefit 

from 140 m) and the proportionally lower tower and more limited BOS cost penalty associated 

with realizing taller towers for larger nameplate capacity machines (i.e., for the Low-SP 4.5 

MW).

Notwithstanding the analysis outcomes derived from the current assumptions, the uncertainties in 

the cost characterization and the magnitude of the differences in the estimated LCOE values 

suggest that there may not be a clear and dominant winner. More specifically, under our current 

assumptions, the 110-m height looks attractive but in fact is only economically preferred over the 

other turbine configurations by a few $/MWh in many cases. Accordingly, if turbine scaling 

costs vary from recent trends in rotor diameter and specific power or if tower costs come in 

substantially lower than assumed, then the hub height distribution of future installations could 

diverge substantially from what is suggested in Figure 11. Moreover, given these differences, 

investments in tall tower technology that are intended to serve lower wind speed areas could, if 

successful, easily extend into higher wind speed areas based on the relatively small current 

advantages of shorter towers on an LCOE basis in those regions. 

Finally, the analysis conducted here is somewhat coarse in that it only considers three potential 

hub heights for the BAU and Low-SP turbines. In reality, commercial developers and OEMs 

could have the ability to consider additional hub heights that might fall between the three 

primary focal points of the current analysis with potentially a broader mix of optimal turbine hub 

heights. 
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Figure 11. Calculated preferred hub height by turbine configuration, based on estimated 

performance and costs

Results presented thus far, with their focus on the contiguous United States, do not provide 

insights into the regions and locations where specific hub heights might prevail. In the same way 

that the wind speed differences varied geographically, the relative favorability of one hub height 

(per turbine configuration) or another also varies geographically. Figures 12 through 15 illustrate 

the economically preferred hub height by location for each of the four turbine configurations 

evaluated. Although the results presented in the figures are a function of the estimated cost and 

performance applied here, and therefore are subject to uncertainty, the relative consistency in the 

trends between turbines is indicative of areas where higher hub height applications will tend to 

be preferable. 
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Figure 12. Calculated economically preferred hub heights for the Today turbine, based on 

estimated costs and performance

Figure 13. Calculated economically preferred hub heights for the BAU turbine,

based on estimated costs and performance
20 

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Figure 14. Calculated economically preferred hub height for the Low-SP 3.25-MW turbine, 

based on estimated costs and performance

Figure 15. Calculated economically preferred hub height for the Low-SP 4.5-MW turbine, 

based on estimated costs and performance

The data mapped illustrate that higher hub heights are generally preferred in the east, but the 

extent of this preference depends on the turbine configuration considered and the estimated costs 

associated with that turbine. Based on the first-order cost characterization developed for this 

analysis and the Today turbine, regions experiencing commercial interest today largely fall into 
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those categories where the 80-m and 110-m towers are preferred. This is consistent with the 

empirical market preferences observed to date. Locations further east suggest more favorable 

conditions for 140-m towers. Focusing on the BAU turbine and the costs assumed here, the 110-

m hub height dominates. Notably, this is the lowest hub height we analyzed for this turbine with

an approximately 75-m blade. This suggests that, in many regions of the country, hub heights 

might be determined simply by requirements for sufficient ground clearance for a given rotor 

nacelle assembly. Focusing on the Low-SP 3.25-MW turbine, there are only very minor 

differences from the BAU turbine. Shifting to the Low-SP 4.5-MW turbine, at the assumed costs 

applied here, results in a modest increase in an area where 140- and 160-m turbines are 

determined to be economically preferred. Overall, however, the 110-m turbine continues to 

dominate, especially in the windiest regions of the country. 

These results are a direct reflection of the inputs applied and do not account for the potential 

impact of future tower innovations that might make higher hub heights more attractive. To begin 

to ascertain the potential impact of tower technology R&D and innovation, we conducted an 

additional tower cost sensitivity analysis. This sensitivity assumes that tower cost is fixed or 

static at $200/kW for all turbine configurations and tower heights. This cost is the approximate 

cost per kilowatt of the Today tower at 80 m. Notably, although this approach fixes cost per 

kilowatt, it does allow for total tower cost to increase as nameplate capacity increases. This 

sensitivity scenario enables us to at least partially capture the potential change in competitiveness 

of the different tower heights, if innovation is able to limit tower cost changes as a function of 

tower height. The calculated LCOE differences associated with this sensitivity scenario are 

shown in Figure 16. This plot is an analog to Figure 9, albeit with tower costs fixed at $200/kW 

for all tower heights. Figure 17 illustrates the economically preferred tower height under these 

cost assumptions. 

Figure 16. Estimated LCOE differences for each Wind Toolkit pixel, assuming $200/kW tower 

costs, relative to the Today turbine at 80 m 
22 

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Figure 17. Calculated preferred hub height by turbine configuration, based on estimated 

performance and costs, assuming $200/kW tower cost

These results illustrate increased competitiveness for tall towers, especially the 160-m tower 

height and highlight how differences in analysis assumptions and innovation potential could 

significantly alter preferences and demand for relatively shorter or taller towers. Future analysis 

would benefit from examination of additional sensitivities and could further parse these results.

2.4 Breakeven Cost Analysis for Turbines with Taller Towers

In addition to the analysis presented thus far, we sought to identify the potential cost targets that 

must be achieved to justify the application of these technologies at their respective hub heights. 

To identify these targets, we calculate the incremental price premium or breakeven cost ($/kW) 

that can be incurred with the improved capacity factors afforded by these technologies and result 

in an equivalent LCOE as the Today technology at an 80-m hub height. If innovators are able to 

achieve a total installed capital cost that is at or below the sum of the Today technology capital 

cost and the breakeven cost, they will be competitive with technology that has recently been 

installed in the U.S market. In practice, the calculated breakeven cost reflects a potential $/kW 

cost adder on top of the estimated total CapEx for the Today technology. In regions where the 

LCOE of the Today technology at 80 m presently is insufficient for wind power to be 

competitive with other power-generation resources, additional cost reduction beyond the levels 

associated with the breakeven costs likely would be necessary to drive future wind power 

deployment. 

The concept of the breakeven cost is premised on the idea that a taller turbine might involve 

more raw material or otherwise be more expensive to install but that the additional energy 

produced could offset these incremental costs, depending on the magnitude of the energy 

improvement and the cost premium incurred. It is also possible that innovation could create the 

conditions under which energy production increases while overall CapEx decreases. In fact, as 

suggested earlier, this might be necessary for wind power to become viable as an energy-
23 

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generation resource in some regions. Although anecdotal evidence suggests we may be moving 

toward this point, we would not necessarily expect increased energy production and lower 

CapEx to be achieved initially. Increases in energy production per turbine, and reductions in 

project-level CapEx, however, generally have occurred in concert for much of the last three 

decades of wind power innovation. Moreover, as a principal benefit of taller turbine innovation is 

access to turbine- and plant-level economies of scale, it is reasonable to anticipate that these 

innovations could allow access to better wind resources at higher above ground hub heights 

while also achieving lower CapEx over time. Numerically, higher values for breakeven costs are 

generally more advantageous and indicate that there is a relatively greater benefit from moving 

to taller turbine concepts. As indicated, however, we also must consider that—for sites with 

relatively low energy production under baseline Today turbine conditions—a high breakeven 

cost on its own might not justify technology or project investment. 

Notwithstanding its limitations, the breakeven cost metric helps to illustrate the costs that 

innovators must beat to be competitive with state-of-the-art technology available today. In this 

sense, it is indicative of an innovation cost target that must be achieved simply to be better than 

the next-best alternative—in this case, the Today technology at an 80-m hub height. The capacity 

factor change and breakeven cost analysis also begin to inform the potential value of continued 

tall-turbine technology development in regions that are currently being targeted by wind energy 

developers, as well as regions that are of less focus to the commercial development community 

today. The calculated breakeven costs for each of the turbine configurations and hub heights 

analyzed here are summarized in Figure 18. 

Figure 18. Breakeven costs for all turbines and all hub heights

In addition to the broad distributions in Figure 18, the following maps illustrate the LCOE 

achieved by the Today turbine (Figure 19)—which constitutes the LCOE from which the 

breakeven cost is calculated—and show how the estimated breakeven costs (an incremental price 

premium that would be on top of the estimated capital cost for the Today turbine at 80 m) vary 
24 

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geospatially across the continental United States (Figures 20–23). For these maps, we focus on 

the BAU and Low-SP 4.5-MW turbine at 110 m and 140 m. A complete summary of average 

breakeven costs by state is provided in Appendix A. 

Collectively, these images illustrate that the distribution of breakeven costs across the country is 

both broad and sizable. In many locations, the breakeven costs are considerable, suggesting that 

there is significant opportunity to go to higher hub heights. At the same time, these locations also 

tend to be where the Today turbine estimated LCOE is quite high and therefore simply achieving 

the breakeven cost will likely be insufficient to drive economic deployment of new wind power. 

Figure 19. Estimated LCOE for the Today turbine at the 80-m hub height
25 

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Figure 20. Breakeven costs for the BAU turbine at the 110-m hub height

Note: Breakeven values reported here are the incremental cost premiums that would be added to the CapEx of the 

Today turbine at 80 m to achieve the same LCOE as the Today turbine at 80 m. 

Figure 21. Breakeven costs for the BAU turbine at the 140-m hub height
26 

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Figure 22. Breakeven costs for the Low-SP 4.5-MW turbine at the 110-m hub height

Figure 23. Breakeven costs for the Low-SP 4.5-MW turbine at the 140-m hub height
27 

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3 Tower Design Options and Related Analysis

For much of the past two decades, the modern wind industry has been dominated by tubular steel 

towers also called “cans.” Since the mid- to late-2000s, the tubular steel tower has been the 

industry standard, and tower height trends in the United States largely have plateaued at about 80 

m. The dominance of the 80-m tower is, in part, a function of logistics and transport constraints 

that limit tower-base diameter, and require rapidly increasing quantities of material to get to 

higher hub heights; and, in part, is a function of the relative cost of energy benefit achieved from 

realizing higher hub heights. Here, we utilize a systems engineering modeling approach to 

understand how technology and innovation might impact the future potential of tubular steel 

tower technology to achieve higher hub heights into the future. 

Note: Section 3.1 through Section 3.1.3 is heavily based upon Dykes et al. (2018). 

3.1 Systems Engineering Steel Tower Simulations

The designs for land-based wind turbine towers must satisfy a number of criteria, or constraints, 

to be viable for deployment. The goal for tower design always is to minimize mass, and to 

reduce material costs, and typically labor costs as well. The tower, however, must be able to 

support the wind turbine for a large variety of operating conditions and extreme events through 

the turbine’s life. Additionally, the tower needs to be manufacturable and transportable. This last 

design criterion around transportability has become a challenge as turbine designers push toward 

higher and higher hub heights. For reasons discussed elsewhere herein, as towers grow larger, 

the ideal design approach is to increase the diameter at the tower base and keep the wall 

thickness minimal. For transportation on land, however, tower diameters are limited to 

approximately 4.3 m dictated by highway and railway overpass heights, which leads to 

substantial and costly tower designs using conventional technology solutions. 

To better understand the potential for steel towers to meet the requisite price points to be viable 

in the United States, an ideal tall tower modeling analysis was conducted. This effort compares 

conventional “transportable” tower designs at different hub heights alongside idealized tower 

designs, with relaxed constraints around transportation and the maximum tower base diameter. In 

particular, a conventional technology transportable case is compared to a large-diameter steel 

tower (LDST) design concept with a 6.2-m base diameter as well as an unconstrained base 

diameter concept potentially accessible through an on-site spiral-welded tower approach. The 

results compare for each design how tower mass and expected material costs change with 

increasing hub height, and thus provide insight into the potential of different technical solutions 

to enable future low-cost tall towers for the wind industry. 

3.1.1 Tower Optimization Method

Tower design looks at minimizing mass and cost through manipulation of the diameter and 

thickness of the tower along its length. The main constraints on the design are associated with

the tower strength and stiffness, which are driven by the loads that the tower experiences over its 

operating lifetime. The loads on the tower stem from aerodynamic, gravitational, and inertial 

loading from the RNA at the tower top as well as drag loads from the wind impinging directly on 

the tower, blades, and nacelle. Detailed discussion of the tower design process is provided in 

“Design of Offshore Wind Turbine Towers” (Damiani 2016). 
28 

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For this analysis, we use a software tool for Tower Systems Engineering (TowerSE) to optimize 

the wind turbine tower design to minimize mass by adjusting tower diameter and thicknesses 

(Ning et al. 2014). TowerSE is a wind turbine tower conceptual design tool that is part of a larger 

WISDEM toolset (Dykes et al. 2015). The tower-top diameter is fixed so there are two design 

variables for the diameter—at the base of the tower and at a set point somewhere between the 

base and top of the tower (which is also a design variable itself). The wall thickness at each of 

the base, top, and set point are design variables as well (Table 2).

Table 2. Tower Design Variables

Description Number of Variables

Tower Outer Diameter 2 

Tower Wall Thickness 3 

Tower Set Point for Tapering 1 

The design variables are optimized for minimum tower mass and satisfy constraints caused by 

key turbine loads (Table 3). We also consider resonance avoidance through a constraint on the 

tower natural frequencies relative to the RNA frequencies. Depending on the specific case, 

constraints for manufacturing and transport are applied as well. 

Table 3. Tower Design Constraints

Description Number of Constraints

Utilization against shell and global buckling 68

Utilization against strength 34

Natural frequency lower limit 1 

Fatigue damage 1 

Diameter-to-thickness ratio (manufacturability) 3 

Base diameter (transportability) 1 

The methods to calculate the shell buckling, global buckling, fatigue damage, and stresses along 

the tower for each load case are addressed in prior studies (Ning et al. 2013). The diameter-tothickness ratio constraint ensures weldability of the tower. The base diameter upper-bound 

constraint is adjusted depending on the tower design case—4.3 m for conventional technology, 

6.2 m for LDST technology, and unconstrained as would be the case for on-site spiral-welded 

technology. 

Finally, the frequency constraint lower bound is adjusted based on the type of tower, present for 

soft-stiff and absent for soft-soft. The frequency constraint is particularly important to the design 

because it can often be the binding constraint on a soft-stiff design and push the mass up 

exponentially as towers grow taller and the natural frequencies move lower (for a fixed diameter 

and thickness profile). A tower designer must be sure that the tower natural frequencies do not 

overlap with the rotor rotational frequency (1P) and blade passing frequency (3P for a threebladed turbine), where excitations can lead to resonance, large amplitude loads, and increased 

fatigue damage (see Damiani 2016 for detailed discussion). Conventional tower designs 
29 

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historically were soft-stiff and were designed to completely avoid the potential for resonanceinduced loading. For modern wind turbine controls, however, it is possible to control loading 

through resonance conditions and enable the use of soft-soft wind turbine tower designs with 

very low natural frequencies that are less stiff and require less thickness in towers with smaller 

diameters. As shown herein, this has significant implications for the small-diameter towers in tall 

tower applications. 

3.1.2 Tower Optimization Case Study

This study examines six different combinations of tower designs for each of six different turbine 

hub heights for a total of 36 optimization cases (Table 4).

Table 4. Tower Optimization Cases

Tower Configuration Tower Type Hub Height

• Conventional (4.3-m base 

diameter)

• Soft-stiff (constrained to above 

rated rotor 1P)

• 80 m

• 100 m

• LDST (6.2-m base

diameter)

• Soft-soft (no frequency 

constraint)

• 120 m

• 140 m

• Spiral-welded (no base 

diameter constraint)

• 160 m

• 180 m

The RNA properties and loads for the study are based on a reference turbine developed by the 

International Energy Agency (IEA) Wind Task 37 on Wind Energy Systems Engineering (Table 

5). The 3.3-MW reference turbine has a rotor diameter of 130 m and a specific power of roughly 

240 W/m2 (IEA 2017). Although not as low in specific power as some machines that are being 

produced or are expected to be in production soon, it is an International Electrotechnical 

Commission (IEC) Class 3A turbine design for low wind speed applications and closer to current 

U.S. land-based wind turbine technology than other available reference turbine designs. 

Table 5. IEA Wind Task 37 Land-Based Low Wind Speed Turbine Configuration Data

Wind Turbine Configuration Data

Lead Developer Technical University of Munich

Class and Category IEC Class 3A

Rotor Orientation Upwind

Number of Blades 3 

Control Variable-speed collective pitch

Drivetrain Geared machine

Rated Power ~3.3 MW

Rotor Diameter 130 m

Hub Height 110 m
30 

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The loads for the turbine were provided by the Technical University of Munich through a 

comprehensive analysis of the turbine response to various design load cases as defined by IEC 

design standards for wind turbines (IEC 61400e1 2014). The largest loads for different force and 

moment components at the tower top were used as input loads to the optimization (including a 

thrust load of 1,000 kilonewtons (kN) and torsion around the vertical axis of 12,500 kNm). 

Fatigue loads were applied based on scaling fatigue loads from the NREL 5-MW reference 

turbine (Jonkman 2009). 

3.1.3 Results

Figure 24 shows the results for more traditional soft-stiff tower masses for each of the turbine 

tower configurations investigated.

Figure 24. Optimization results for soft-stiff tower design cases

For the transportable towers with a maximum diameter of 4.3 m, the optimizer failed to find a 

feasible solution for hub heights of 140 m or more. For the heights that were possible to 

optimize, the weight grows relatively rapidly with tower height. When the constraint on tower 

base diameter is relaxed, there are benefits in decreasing mass at all heights. Generally, the need 

to meet the frequency constraint for soft-stiff towers pushes the wall thickness of smaller-baseddiameter towers to large values so that the overall mass increases. Notwithstanding these results, 

it is important to note that tower cost is strongly correlated with mass but is not directly 

proportional to it, due to the specifics of manufacturing processes.

Figure 25 illustrates the shift in the results when looking not just at traditional soft-stiff towers 

but also examining soft-soft towers where controls are used to avoid 1P resonance with the rotor. 

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180

Tower Mass (t)

Hub Height (m)

Transportable Soft-Stiff LDST Soft-Stiff Unconstrained Soft-Stiff
31 

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Figure 25. Optimization results for soft-soft tower design cases

Relative to the soft-stiff towers, the mass is reduced in all cases in the soft-soft tower results. The 

difference is most pronounced in the transportable case with a maximum base diameter of 4.3 m. 

The optimizer was able to find feasible solutions for all transportable cases, though the 180-m 

case yielded an optimized mass of 1,200 tons to meet constraints for global buckling. Similarly, 

the solutions for the LDST and spiral-welded cases all are much lower than before—reduced by 

as much as 200 tons in the unconstrained case at a 180-m hub height. 

Based on data points from actual masses for two transportable towers with hub heights of 120 m 

and 140 m, we know that these masses can be higher than the transportable tower masses 

presently available. This likely is due to the fact that the reference turbine design differs from 

actual technology and the fact that industry has developed more sophisticated control systems to 

enable not just soft-soft tower designs but also an overall decrease in loads experienced by the 

tower. The major impact of these advancements will be in reducing fatigue loads, but controls 

algorithms and load sets for specific turbines are highly valuable intellectual property in the 

industry. An example of this is Vestas OptiStop and Active Damping technologies that reduce 

the overall loads experienced by the towers and allow for a more efficient, lower-weight, and 

reduced-cost tower design (Montanez 2017). These data demonstrate that, although pursuing 

novel tower technologies holds promise for growing hub heights, innovation around 

conventional tubular steel tower designs also holds promise and could extend their

competitiveness to higher hub heights. At the same time, when the full suite of controls 

technologies is applied to LDST and unconstrained or spiral-welded technologies, their masses 

might be decreased even further with further potential to reduce the cost of wind energy for tall 

tower applications. 

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180

Tower Mass (t)

Hub Height (m)

Transportable Soft-Soft LDST Soft-Soft Unconstrained Soft-Soft
32 

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3.2 Innovation Opportunities for Additional Alternative Tall Tower 

Technologies

In spite of the general dominance of tubular steel towers, manufacturers have continued to 

explore additional alternative tower technologies. The pursuit of alternative tower concepts is 

justified on various grounds and can result from a desire to hedge against steel-price volatility or 

from perceived potential for cost reduction. Alternative tower technologies might use lower-cost 

materials, such as concrete, or could entail more efficient use of steel, such as lattice or space 

frame designs. Depending on the specifics of a given concept, they also could offer efficiencies 

in balance of plant and erection. Notably, many alternative tower concepts offer potential 

solutions to transport challenges and barriers, and in many cases offer opportunities for larger 

base diameters than the conventional transport limit of 4.3 m. This is of particular interest to 

OEMs and wind power plant developers operating in the United States, where long transport 

distances result in nontrivial cost impacts associated with transportation generally. Of course, 

alternative tower concepts also have challenges that have precluded their broad-based adoption 

to date, such as much larger labor fraction and on-site labor rates. 

One alternative tower design option is on-site manufacturing, which, in principle, should reduce 

transportation costs and enable taller towers with the trade-off of potentially more labor in the 

field at the project site. Fundamentally, on-site manufacturing enables the use of commoditized 

transport and allows the primary production or assembly processes to occur at or near the wind 

power plant construction site (e.g., avoiding public roads). Currently, a few tower-technology 

firms—including Wind Tower Technologies (WTT) and Keystone Tower Systems—have 

conceived and are actively developing on-site manufacturing strategies. Max Bögl is another 

firm that has commercial offerings of site-cast concrete in mobile factories. 

Here, we explore the current status of various alternative tower designs and discuss the design 

considerations and attributes associated with each of these technologies. Three specific 

alternative tower concepts are considered: (1) a full-concrete field-cast tower, (2) a hybrid 

concrete and tubular steel tower, and (3) a lattice or space frame tower. These three alternative 

tower concepts considered here have all been explored in some depth by wind turbine 

manufacturers in the past, and all cases have some operational experience in the wind industry. 

As they were more quantitatively analyzed and discussed, in terms of mass attributes in Section 

3.1, we do not reconsider LDST or spiral-welded towers in this section; however, they are also 

relevant tower options going forward.5

 Notably, this short list of alternatives is not intended to be 

comprehensive. In particular, it does not consider lower technology readiness level potential 

solutions such as three-dimensional-printed concrete, which, if successful, could resolve at least 

some of the challenges with the concrete tower concepts detailed in the following sections. 

3.2.1 Full-Concrete Field-Cast Towers

The full-concrete field-cast tower concept has gained interest from the wind industry as a means 

to circumvent transportation barriers associated with other tall tower technologies. By pouring 

the tower on-site in the field, overpass clearance barriers are avoided as are other transport 

hurdles (e.g., weight) associated with moving large concrete sections often utilized in hybrid 

 

5 Potential challenges associated with these tubular rolled steel variants include significant bolts and on-site 

assembly costs for the base section of the LDST and the potential needs to set up regional or on-site facilities to 

manufacturing spiral-welded towers.
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concrete and tubular steel concepts. Reliance on concrete as the primary material also offers an 

opportunity for less sensitivity to steel costs and replaces steel with a lower-cost primary 

material. 

Challenges for full-concrete field-cast concepts include relatively large material quantities, 

which could erode some of the potential material cost savings associated with lower-cost 

materials, and a persistent dependence on steel for reinforcing rebar and post-tensioning cables. 

Additionally, the field-casting and erection process tends to be labor- and time-intensive, 

increasing labor costs overall and potentially introducing logistics challenges. Moreover, without 

a self-erecting crane—which has not yet been demonstrated in the field—incremental crane costs 

could be incurred as the individual sections are cast and ultimately placed on the tower. 

In terms of its present status, in the United States, WTT has installed a prototype 115-m hub 

height (100-m concrete tower, 15-m steel section) tower that utilized concrete annuli that were 

cast on-site. The WTT tower utilizes a process called “match casting” that provides reduced 

cycle times during tower installation and less finishing work on the interface of the concrete 

tower sections. The process involves casting tower sections against one another as they cure; this 

allows for a precision joint and removes the need for a “wet joint,” further decreasing installation 

cycle time. This process is more widely known as “short line match casting” in civil engineering 

and the bridge industry and eliminates the need for precision machining of the concrete tower 

section interface as is typical with factory-cast and highway-transported concrete sections 

common on hybrid concrete and steel towers. 

The WTT technology utilizes concrete that can be produced in the field in most locations in the 

United States. This approach benefits from having a quarry on or near the wind power plant site. 

This differs from some hybrid concrete and steel factory-cast sections with compressive 

strengths of approximately 11,000–13,000 psi. Controlling the quality and strength of these 

higher-strength mixes can be a challenge in the field. Because the tower segments are assumed to 

be cast on-site, the moving of the tower segments might only face challenges due to weight and 

the relatively large diameter. For on-site transport, the additional cost of a specialized trailer, if 

necessary, and tractor or prime mover are assumed to be limited. 

3.2.2 Hybrid Concrete and Tubular Steel Towers

Historically, the hybrid concrete and tubular steel tower is the most common type of tower for 

hub heights above 120 m. Max Bögl and the turbine OEM Enercon are perhaps the most 

prominent users of these tower designs, which most frequently have been installed in Germany. 

Hybrid designs typically use ~90 m of concrete annuli or segmented sections and a 50- to 80-m 

steel tubular transportable steel tower. Again, an advantage of the concrete construction is that 

the tower diameter can be optimized (but still considering the transport limits of the concrete 

sections), which can minimize the material required to construct the concrete portion of the 

tower.

The cost estimates provided below assume a 90-m concrete tower and a 50-m steel tower. These 

towers typically use concrete sections that are cast in a factory and utilize high-strength concrete 

(11,000–13,000 psi). The tower-section mating surfaces are machined parallel and the tower 

section typically is transported to the site by truck. A transition piece is placed on top of the 

concrete sections and is used to attach the tubular steel tower section to the concrete base. The 
34 

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transition piece is connected to the base of the steel tubular tower and to steel cables that serve to 

compress the concrete structure. These cables are post-tensioned after installation of the concrete 

sections and transition piece, and before the installation of the tubular steel tower segments.

The hybrid concrete-tubular steel tower concept has been pursued explicitly because of its lower 

sensitivity to fluctuations in steel prices and to avoid transport challenges historically associated 

with tall steel towers. Hybrid concepts also might provide a viable solution to the geometric 

constraints within the area covered by the rotor disc. At the same time, transport costs still might 

be significant because of the need to transport large concrete sections as well as steel sections. 

Relative to the full-concrete field-cast concept, some labor and material savings could be 

captured by fabricating the various sections in a centralized manufacturing facility, but this 

savings potential must be weighed against impacts on transportation costs. 

Max Bögl announced the capability of a mobile concrete tower-section manufacturing facility 

(Max Bögl 2016), which could increase the potential utilization of hybrid concrete towers by 

reducing the transportation cost and increasing local labor fraction. Relative to a full tubular steel 

tower, labor and material intensities remain comparatively high. The assembly of the large 

concrete sections coupled with the joining of the concrete and steel portions of the tower also 

introduce additional erection-cycle time relative to a tubular steel tower. Notably, as advanced 

turbine controls have evolved and allowed for alternative steel-tower geometries, LDST-style 

towers have eroded some of the hybrid concepts market share for tall tower installations in 

Europe. 

3.2.3 Lattice/Space Frame

Lattice towers were used for many years in the wind industry, specifically in the 50- to 400-kW 

turbine size range from the 1980s to1990s. Lattice towers offer very low material quantities and 

a complete tower can be moved by a conventional highway legal truck, helping to control 

transport costs. In the 1990s, these towers fell out of favor for various reasons; however, visual 

aesthetics and bird interactions are the most commonly cited explanations. The lattice tower 

concept is sensitive to labor cost because of the large number of individual structural members 

and fasteners as well as a relatively challenging skin (something often desirable for its favorable 

aesthetics). Installation time, particularly for the skin, is also sensitive to weather delays. 

Increased erection-cycle time, due to the increase in number of tower sections and the time 

needed to install the skin of the tower, compounds the risk of costly weather delays. Despite the 

move away from lattice towers over the past two decades, designer interest has never been fully 

eliminated.

This analysis relies on a limited number of data points derived from publicly available sources 

specific to a GE lattice tower prototype. These data were used as a starting point to define 

material, labor, and installation estimates. GE acquired the rights to a patented lattice tower 

design originally from Wind Tower Systems LLC. This design uses a pentagonal base with a 

varying cross section until roughly the bottom of the rotor plane. The acquired patents included 

multiple self-erecting designs, including a climbing jib crane to erect the tower, and a lifting 

apparatus that could be used to install the nacelle and rotor without the need for a large crane. 

GE installed a 97-m prototype in Tehachapi, California, in 2014 and later installed a 139-m 

tower. Based on its experience, GE cited issues with the skin installation and torsional stiffness 

as nontrivial challenges. 
35 

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Turbine OEM Suzlon is currently offering a 120-m hybrid space frame/tubular steel tower for the 

Indian market with a total installed capacity of more than 1 GW (Suzlon 2018). This approach 

might address some of the torsional stiffness issues due to the use of the tubular steel section 

across the rotor plane, as compared to a full space frame where the lattice structure extends from 

the yaw ring to the ground. This approach also uses a much smaller rotor diameter (97 m and 111 

m versus ~130 m) and a much shorter tubular steel tower section than the typical concrete hybrid 

towers. After clearing the rotor plane, the Suzlon lattice square cross section grows to ~4.9 m per 

side or ~6.9 m diagonally (Suzlon 2018).

Nabrawind has demonstrated a 160-m prototype using its Nabralift system, which is a hybrid 

tubular steel tower within the rotor plane and has a three-leg lattice structure below the rotor. 

This system uses much larger and fewer members in the lattice structure than used in the GE 

concept, which reduces labor. This concept also uses much taller segments than many site-cast 

concrete segments, which reduces cycle times and labor associated with the turbine installation 

process.

Lattice or other tower approaches with wide footprints also offer the potential use of alternative 

foundation designs and potentially significant cost reductions in the foundation than a 

conventional spread foot foundation—which is nearly universally used in the United States. The 

wider footprint of the lattice towers and potentially spiral-welded towers could allow for large 

reductions in foundation material, labor, and cost by using individual foundations under each 

member, or in the case of the spiral-welded tower, use an annular foundation. This could be 

combined with other foundation approaches, such as rock or soil anchors or small piers, which 

could result in further reductions in foundation costs. Further cost reductions in BOS could be 

realized with towers that enable alternative foundation designs. For example, foundation cost 

fraction is estimated at approximately 15% of total BOS cost for the 4.5-MW Low-SP turbine at 

110-, 140-, and 160-m hub heights. 

3.2.4 Comparing and Contrasting Competing Tower Alternatives

To begin to understand potential cost differences among tower technologies, we conducted a 

basic comparison of the relative attributes of the three identified alternatives. Based on this firstorder assessment, the lattice tower seems attractive. In particular, its material and transport costs 

are expected to be quite low. As noted earlier, however, there are significant challenges that need 

to be overcome for this technology to be achieve widespread commercial utilization. Key 

weaknesses include substantial and relatively high-risk installation costs—with risks being 

compounded by potential wind delays during construction and skin installation. Moreover, 

resolving the torsional structural issues could erode at least some, if not all, of the potential 

opportunity associated with lattice towers. In this vein, jacket-type offshore wind substructures 

are a comparable structural strategy to the lattice tower but have yet to substantially displace the 

use of steel monopole substructures in offshore environments of shallow to moderate depth 

(Smith et al. 2015; Musial et al. 2017). Although not altogether comparable, this suggests that 

adequately resolving the potential weaknesses of the lattice tower could result in a significantly 

reduced opportunity for them relative to what is suggested in this initial first-order assessment.

Focusing on the full-concrete field-cast cost characterization, it appears that there are also 

nontrivial challenges to achieving cost levels consistent with broad-based deployment. Firstorder estimates of potential cost are on par with, but not below, what might be achieved with a 
36 

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transportable tubular steel tower of comparable height using current design concepts and 

manufacturing strategies. Perhaps most challenging from the perspective of fundamentals is that

a significant portion of costs is either materials-driven or labor. There certainly is potential to 

eliminate a large amount of the tower labor cost by having the rebar tied off-site and transported 

in segments and by improved processes and experience. Self-erecting cranes also could reduce 

installation and erection costs. It might be more difficult to reduce materials costs.

In the United States, with its relatively large (e.g., 300 mile) transport distances, the factory-cast 

hybrid concrete and tubular steel tower faces a significant disadvantage. Under these conditions, 

transport costs are estimated to be significant and potentially prohibitive. Absent these 

substantial transport costs, it is apparent why the hybrid concept historically has been the tall 

tower technology of choice. Of course, the magnitude of the transport costs also demonstrate 

why this approach has lost market share in the tall tower space to the LDST concepts employing 

advanced controls and “soft-soft” design strategies in recent years. Moreover, material and labor 

costs for the hybrid concept remain significant even when allowing for substantially shorter 

transport distances. 
37 

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4 Insights for Tower Design and Innovation

The previous sections of this report have examined and explored the potential opportunity 

offered by increased tower height through the lens of wind speed, capacity factor, and LCOE. 

Additionally, they have explored the potential opportunities afforded by advancements in tubular 

steel towers, as well as the potential strengths and weaknesses of full-concrete, hybrid, and 

lattice tower concepts. In this section, we attempt to synthesize the insights generated and posit 

potential metrics that might be used to characterize the viability of novel tower solutions going 

forward. Key insights are structured by category and follow the general structure of the report. 

4.1 Analysis Results and Insights

4.1.1 Wind Resources

Based on current data in the Wind Toolkit for calendar year 2012, an increase in hub height from 

80 to 110 m generally results in wind speed increases of 0 to 0.5 m/s west of the Rockies, and 0.5 

to 1.0 m/s east of the Rockies. Additionally, some areas see decreased wind speeds with higher 

above ground levels, likely owing to unusual topographic features, such as mountainous terrain 

in California and the Appalachian region. If hub height is increased from 80 to 160 m, portions 

of the central plains would see wind speed increases of 1.5 to 2.0 m/s. Additionally, some 

locations in Pennsylvania, New York, and Maine would see increases of 1.0 to 1.5 m/s. These 

results lead to a general finding that increased hub height is accompanied by increased wind 

resources. However, there are regional and topographical differences that must be recognized. 

Moreover, as discussed in Section 2, the quantitative results presented depend in no small part on 

the accuracy and validity of the Wind Toolkit data. Mesoscale wind resource data, particularly at 

higher above ground levels, could benefit from further validation and study, in addition to the 

efforts completed to date.

4.1.2 Capacity Factors

For the Today turbine, capacity factor generally increased when hub height was increased from 

80 to 110 m, with the increases clustered at 5 percentage points or less. At 140 m relative to 80 

m, capacity factor increases exhibited a range from approximately 0 to 10 percentage points with 

a relatively flat distribution. For the other three turbines examined and focusing on the 

comparisons within each turbine platform, median capacity factor increases were approximately 

2 to 3 percentage points when moving from 110 to 140 m and approximately 1 percentage point 

when moving from 140 to 160 m. Generalizing these results indicates that increasing hub heights 

to 110 and 140 m drives sizable gains across turbine platforms with seemingly diminishing 

returns above 140 m. These findings exhibit the same regional and topographical variations 

observed with the wind resource data. These results are highly dependent on the accuracy of the 

wind resource data, particularly at the higher above ground levels, and also vary depending on 

the specific turbine configuration applied. While diminishing returns with higher above ground 

heights is at least partially intuitive, the uncertainty in the underlying resource data makes it 

difficult to ascertain the robustness of the observed trends. 

4.1.3 Energy Costs

Of the four turbines examined, the Low-SP 4.5-MW turbine exhibited the lowest LCOE values. 

At a 110-m hub height, unsubsidized LCOE for this machine ranged from $25/MWh to

$35/MWh throughout much of the nation’s interior wind belt. In the eastern half of the nation, 
38 

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LCOE ranged from $35/MWh to $50/MWh. Throughout the Pacific and Intermountain West 

regions, results were mixed. With hub height increased to 160 m, there was less support for 

$25/MWh to $35/MWh LCOE in the interior wind belt, whereas in some eastern regions LCOE 

was reduced relative to the 110-m case. This correlates with experience within the wind industry: 

commercial wind developers’ interest in taller towers is emerging in the eastern states, but as yet 

there is no corresponding drive in the interior wind belt.

Changes in LCOE relative to the estimated LCOE for the Today turbine at 80 m were also 

estimated for all four turbines at each Wind Toolkit site (more than 1.85 million nationwide), 

yielding broad distributions reflecting the wide range of wind resources throughout the nation. 

For the Low-SP 4.5-MW turbine, the changes in LCOE range from slightly positive to reductions 

of as much as $30/MWh, with a broad peak clustered around $5/MWh to $10/MWh. In contrast, 

LCOE values for the Today turbine at the higher hub heights tend to be greater as hub height is 

increased. Results for the other two machines are similar to those for the 4.5-MW machine but 

are less pronounced. 

Economically preferred tower heights were determined for each of the four turbines at each 

Wind Toolkit site. The preferred height—selected from the options of 80 m, 110 m, 140 m, and 

160 m—yielded the lowest LCOE at that site. Of course, not all of these sites would offer an 

LCOE low enough to be commercially viable. Many would, however, so the results of this 

exercise provide an indication of preferred tower heights based on recent technology cost and 

scaling trends. For today’s turbine, 80 m is preferred for more than half of the sites—again 

consistent with commercial experience in the interior region—but substantial opportunities exist 

at 110 m and 140 m as well. For the three larger turbines, 110 m is preferred for more than 60% 

of all sites, with significant opportunities at 140 m as well. The 160-m height was preferred only 

by the Low-SP 4.5-MW turbine, and at only about 2% of sites. 

4.1.4 Breakeven Costs

For a 110-m hub height, the analysis found breakeven costs for today’s turbine of well under 

$500/kW for many locations. For the Low-SP 4.5-MW turbine, breakeven costs were clustered 

around $500/kW, tailing off to about $1,500/kW. At the 140-m hub height, breakeven costs 

exhibited a wide distribution with a broad peak. For the Today turbine, breakeven costs were 

clustered around approximately $250/kW, tailing off to about $1,000/kW. 

These results provide turbine designers with a rough indication of the cost budget allowable in 

pursuing economical taller turbines. Of course, beating the breakeven cost could be 

accomplished with whatever means are available to designers, manufacturers, and installers. 

These could include changes in design or other machine features, reduced blade costs or a 

reduced blade mass scaling exponent, advances in tower design or manufacturing, advanced 

turbine controls, erection economies or other BOS advances, other unforeseen improvements, or 

combinations of several of these methods. 

4.1.5 Tall Tower Options

In pursuing higher hub heights at affordable costs, tower cost is a major factor. We examined 

prospects for tubular steel towers and several other options under consideration. Three tubular 

steel options were analyzed: transportable tower, with a 4.3-m base diameter; LDST, with a 6.2-

m base diameter; and an unconstrained base diameter tower, which might be fabricated on-site 
39 

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with spiral-welding techniques. We considered hub heights from 80 to 180 m and examined both 

soft-stiff and soft-soft designs. 

In the soft-stiff case, the transportable tower becomes uneconomical rapidly as its height is 

increased. At 80 m, its weight is estimated at 180 tons. At 120 m, its weight has increased to 

900 tons. Beyond 120 m, it was determined to be economically impractical. For the LDST case, 

the 80-m weight is estimated at 130 tons, reflecting the reduced steel thickness allowed by the 

larger base diameter. At 140 m, its weight has increased to 850 tons. For the unconstrained case, 

the 140-m tower weight is 440 tons (or about half of the 140-m LDST weight). Clearly, the 

unconstrained option offers a huge advantage with respect to weight; however, on-site 

production presents its own nontrivial challenges.

For the soft-soft cases examined, significant weight reductions are estimated relative to soft-stiff 

options. The transportable tower weight at 140 m is 440 tons, less than half the weight of the 

soft-stiff tower at 120 m. Even at 160 m, its weight of 860 tons is less than that of the 120-m 

soft-stiff tower. The other two tower options also show comparable reductions. In the 

unconstrained case, the 160-m tower, at 470 tons, is only slightly heavier than the 140-m softstiff tower (440 tons). 

It is clear from these results that soft-soft tower designs offer a substantial weight—and thus 

likely cost—advantage. Even the transportable option that is able to clear today’s highway 

transport constraints becomes feasible at 140 m. The major challenge for soft-soft designs is 

management of 1P resonances through advanced controls, damping, or some other means. Wind 

turbine OEMs appear to be making significant progress along these lines, as evidenced by 

commercial tower weights that are somewhat less than the weights estimated in our analysis.

In addition to steel towers, we also examined prospects and costs for several other tower options, 

including full-concrete field-cast, hybrid concrete and tubular steel tower, and lattice or space 

frame. These could offer advantages in transport, erection, and BOS costs, and might allow for

larger base diameters, but all are accompanied by much greater labor costs than those of 

transportable towers. Potential advantages and risks were assessed for each of these options. For 

installations in the United States, none of these options shows a clear advantage over tubular 

steel towers. Of the three, the lattice-based approaches seem to offer the greatest potential, based 

on low material and transport costs. However, there are sizable risks associated with on-site labor 

requirements, wind conditions during installation, and torsional loads. With the full-concrete 

field-cast approach, reducing costs below tubular steel presents a major challenge. With the 

hybrid-concrete approach, large concrete sections are cast in a factory and then transported over 

long distances. With transportation costs approaching nearly half of total installed tower cost, the 

prospects for this option appear limited, unless there are logistics or other innovations that can 

greatly reduce transportation requirements and costs. 

4.2 Analysis Results Discussion

Overall, this analysis leads to three primary conclusions. First, there is sufficient additional wind 

resource in the United States at higher above ground levels to warrant the pursuit of technology 

enabling higher hub heights. Second, tall tower technologies with the greatest potential appear to 

be tubular steel based on soft-soft design criteria; these towers have gained relative prominence 

in the industry over the past several years. Third, hub heights of 110 m to 140 m have the 
40 

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potential to offer some LCOE advantages relative to today’s typical turbines, with optimal hub 

heights potentially varying from these discrete points were a more continuous set of solutions 

available. Based on the initial first-order cost estimates applied here, LCOE reductions between 

$5/MWh and $10/MWh, and in some cases even larger, are plausible. Tall tower technologies 

and solutions could be even more attractive if they are able to incorporate innovation potential 

not captured here that enhances their economics relative to recent scaling trends.

Given the substantial uncertainties embedded in our cost assumptions and the relative optimism 

toward higher hub heights and larger machines, however, these findings need to be verified and 

validated with more resolved and comprehensive cost estimates before they can be deemed 

robust. More specifically, changes in turbine or BOS CapEx could alter the observed outcomes. 

Additionally, our analysis indicates somewhat diminishing returns from hub height increases to 

140 m and subsequently to 160 m. Moreover, potential returns from achieving 140 m or 160 m 

are in locations where estimated LCOEs are relatively high, suggesting that simply making an 

economic case for a higher hub height in these locations might not be sufficient to support wind 

deployment in these regions. These results suggest that potential future drivers of higher wind 

turbine hub heights could be governed by factors beyond the observed improvement in wind 

resource alone. Alternative drivers could include increased land constraints (as has been 

observed in Germany), with more limited locations to install wind turbines and therefore a need 

to maximize the energy generation per turbine. Another alternative driver could be a desire to 

further increase rotor size and therefore increase hub height to provide sufficient ground 

clearance. 

4.3 Lessons Learned for Evaluating Tall Tower Opportunities

This analysis shows that wind resource quality improves in most locations with higher above 

ground levels, up to at least 160 m. The analysis, however, also shows that the relative value of 

achieving higher hub heights is not absolute and varies significantly by location. Moreover, the 

locations where the value is potentially greatest from achieving higher hub heights tend to be 

places where the wind energy resource is less robust; therefore, economically achieving a higher 

hub height alone might not be sufficient to make wind power economic in those locations. 

Given this context, evaluating the viability of a given tall tower opportunity is both complex and 

difficult to generalize. Based on our insights from this work, we suggest focusing on LCOE, total 

CapEx, and breakeven cost as the means of evaluating relative usefulness of a proposed tall 

tower approach. Consideration of a particular set of site conditions is also important given the 

variability in value as a function of geospatial variables. Further, tower cost itself is important 

but can be misleading. Some tower solutions could actually increase tower cost and still result in 

a lower CapEx if they enable an elegant installation solution that further minimizes BOS cost. 

Moreover, if computed on a dollars-per-kilowatt ($/kW) basis, a solution requires holding the 

turbine’s nameplate capacity constant to avoid manipulating one particular component cost 

(e.g., tower) simply by increasing or decreasing nameplate capacity; tower scaling and generator 

scaling are not directly proportional. 

The LCOE and total CapEx (or breakeven costs) are of particular importance given the interplay 

between turbine and plant subsystems, as well as the potential for hub height to impact BOS and 

operational expenditures. Notably, the most critical innovation enabling soft-soft towers is the 
41 

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turbine controls, which now enable the machine to avoid operating conditions that were key 

design constraints in prior eras. Similarly, going forward, alternative erection techniques that 

reduce BOS costs could be as critical to realizing the value of higher hub heights as is 

developing novel tower solutions. 

If focusing on a singular metric for evaluating the potential afforded by any given tall tower 

solution, we propose a focus on breakeven cost—computed at the system or total CapEx level. 

The value of the metric should also consider the LCOE that might be required to support 

economic deployment of wind energy in a given region. Based on the analysis conducted here, a 

system-level breakeven cost of less than $500/kW for relatively lower specific power turbines 

and potentially as low as $200/kW, particularly for higher specific power turbines, could be 

sufficient to support an LCOE reduction across much of the country, and also would push lessenergetic wind resource regions further along the path to competitiveness. Stated from a 

developer’s perspective, if a prospective taller-tower solution (110 m or higher) can be realized 

at an additional cost of about $200/kW (relative to the same turbine on an 80-m tower), that 

solution is likely to offer wide applicability across the nation. The same would be true at 

$500/kW, but to a lesser extent. Depending on the specific focus areas, turbine configuration, 

and relevant site conditions, and especially if pushing toward higher hub heights (e.g., 140 m, 

160 m), divergence of higher breakeven costs from this general guidance could be merited. 
42 

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5 Conclusions

We find the question of optimal wind turbine tower height to be a rich and complex area of 

research, particularly when considering the problem at the continental scale. The system nature 

of wind technology and the variability in key input variables across time and space—not least of 

which is the wind resource—add dimensions to the analysis that require consideration of a great 

number of potential trade-offs as well as the possibility for multiple equally optimal solutions. 

Moreover, we have observed that our results are sensitive to changes in key assumptions (e.g., 

total CapEx and wind shear) that are highly uncertain but, at the same time, the magnitude of the 

difference in outcomes is not always significant.

Notwithstanding the complexity of the tasks and the array of potential outcomes, our analysis 

suggests that there are sizable gains to be had by realizing tall tower technologies. At the same 

time, there may also be diminishing returns to higher hub heights, and locations where the value 

of higher hub heights is greatest tend to be the areas where wind energy presently is relatively 

high cost. Based on our current cost assumptions derived from recent vintage technology scaling 

functions, it is the case across much of the continental United States that the lowest available hub 

height (e.g., 80 m, 110 m) often provides the lowest-cost solution. At the same time, taller towers 

may be critical to increasing the opportunity for wind power across the nation and could become 

increasingly attractive as innovations drive down the costs required to achieve higher hub 

heights. Continued tower growth could also be a result of a combination of factors, including 

land constraints that result in stronger consideration for maximizing energy production per 

turbine and the need to provide sufficient ground clearance as a function of continued rotor 

growth. 

Future work efforts in this domain are anticipated to benefit from research that quantifies and 

ultimately reduces the uncertainty of the wind resource data, particularly at higher above ground 

levels. In addition, more focus on cost estimates including sensitivities, analyzing specific 

technology opportunities, and analyzing alternative turbine configurations could provide more 

robust perspectives and insights into the potential for innovative solutions to capture additional 

value from taller towers. 
43 

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de_18MAY2015_FINAL.pdf. 
46 

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Appendix A. Supplemental Input and Results Data

Table A1. Detailed Levelized Cost of Energy Cost Inputs

Today 

Low 

Specific 

Power (SP)

4.5

Business 

as Usual 

(BAU) 

Low-SP 

3.25 MW

Nameplate Capacity (megawatts [MW]) 2.32 4.50 3.30 3.25

Rotor Diameter (meters [m]) 113 194 156 166

Specific Power (watts (W)/m2) 231 152 173 150

Hub Height 80 m, Tower Cost ($/kilowatt 

[kW]) $198 — — — 

Hub Height 110 m, Tower Cost ($/kW) $378 $195 $266 $270

Hub Height 140 m, Tower Cost ($/kW) $616 $318 $433 $440

Hub Height 160 m, Tower Cost ($/kW) $808 $416 $568 $577

Turbine Rotor Nacelle Assembly ($/kW), 

Blade Exp = 2.2

$562 $802 $695 $779

Balance of Station (BOS) ($/kW), Hub 

Height 80 m $317 — — — 

BOS ($/kW), Hub Height 110 m $330 $206 $258 $258

BOS ($/kW), Hub Height 140 m $343 $212 $274 $274

BOS ($/kW), Hub Height 160 m $352 $215 $292 $292

Capital Expenditures (CapEx) ($/kW), blade 

Exp = 2.2, 80 m $1,077 — — — 

CapEx ($/kW), blade Exp = 2.2, 110 m $1,270 $1,203 $1,218 $1,306

CapEx ($/kW), blade Exp = 2.2, 140 m $1,521 $1,331 $1,402 $1,492

CapEx ($/kW), blade Exp = 2.2, 160 m $1,722 $1,433 $1,555 $1,648

CapEx ($/kW), blade Exp = 2.2, 80 m, 

$200/kW tower $1,077 — — — 

CapEx ($/kW), blade Exp = 2.2, 110 m, 

$200/kW tower $1,092 $1,208 $1,153 $1,237

CapEx ($/kW), blade Exp = 2.2, 140 m, 

$200/kW tower $1,105 $1,213 $1,168 $1,252

CapEx ($/kW), blade Exp = 2.2, 160 m, 

$200/kW tower $1,114 $1,217 $1,187 $1,271
47 

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Table A2. Net Capacity Factor Change Statistics, Relative to the Today Turbine at 80 m 

(Percentage Points)

Turbine Configuration Median 25th Percentile 75th Percentile

Today 110 m 3.8 2.1 4.7 

Today 140 m 6.67 3.6 8.5 

Today 160 m 7.5 4.1 9.7 

Business as usual (BAU) 

110 m 8.8 6.2 10.0 

BAU 140 m 11.3 7.6 13.4 

BAU 160 m 12.1 8.1 14.4

Low-SP 3.25 MW, 110 m 11.1 8.2 12.5 

Low-SP 3.25 MW, 140 m 13.4 9.5 15.6

Low-SP 3.25 MW, 160 m 14.2 10.0 16.7 

Low-SP 4.5 MW, 110 m 10.9 8.0 12.2

Low-SP 4.5 MW, 140 m 13.2 9.3 15.4 

Low-SP 4.5 MW, 160 m 13.9 9.8 16.4
48 

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Table A3. Net Capacity Factor Breakpoints

(Percentage of pixels with an increase greater than 5, 10, and 15 percentage points as listed in the

column head of the table, relative to the Today turbine at 80 m) 

Turbine Configuration 5 10 15

Today 110 m 15.3% 0.0% 0.0%

Today 140 m 65.0% 8.4% 0.0%

Today 160 m 69.6% 21.6% 0.3% 

BAU 110 m 86.5% 25.0% 0.0%

BAU 140 m 90.9% 61.1% 8.8% 

BAU 160 m 91.7% 65.3% 19.4% 

Low-SP 3.25 MW, 110 m 95.8% 62.4% 0.9%

Low-SP 3.25 MW, 140 m 96.6% 72.6% 32.7%

Low-SP 3.25 MW, 160 m 96.6% 75.0% 42.3% 

Low-SP 4.5 MW, 110 m 95.3% 60.5% 0.6% 

Low-SP 4.5 MW, 140 m 96.2% 71.6% 29.8%

Low-SP 4.5 MW, 160 m 96.3% 74.0% 40.1% 
49 

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Table A4. Levelized Cost of Energy Summary Statistics ($/megawatt-hour [MWh]) 

Turbine Configuration Median 25th Percentile 75th Percentile

Today 80 m $51 $41 $66

Today 110 m $51 $41 $64

Today 140 m $52 $44 $66

Today 160 m $56 $47 $71

BAU 110 m $42 $35 $53

BAU 140 m $43 $37 $54

BAU 160 m $46 $39 $57

Low-SP 3.25 MW, 110 m $42 $35 $52

Low-SP 3.25 MW, 140 m $43 $37 $53

Low-SP 3.25 MW, 160 m $45 $39 $56

Low-SP 4.5 MW, 110 m $40 $34 $49

Low-SP 4.5 MW, 140 m $40 $34 $49

Low-SP 4.5 MW, 160 m $41 $35 $51
50 

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Table A5. Levelized Cost of Energy Breakpoints 

(Percentage of pixels with an LCOE less than the dollar values listed in the column head of the 

table) 

Turbine Configuration $30/MWh $40/MWh $50/MWh

Today 80 m 0.4% 20.9% 47.8%

Today 110 m 0.1% 20.0% 48.8%

Today 140 m 0.0% 9.3% 44.5% 

Today 160 m 0.0% 0.8% 36.4%

BAU 110 m 1.3% 43.0% 69.0% 

BAU 140 m 0.1% 39.4% 66.9%

BAU 160 m 0.0% 30.0% 61.2% 

Low-SP 3.25 MW, 110 m 1.0% 44.3% 71.1% 

Low-SP 3.25 MW, 140 m 0.1% 40.0% 68.6%

Low-SP 3.25 MW, 160 m 0.0% 30.2% 62.5%

Low-SP 4.5 MW, 110 m 5.4% 50.9% 76.2% 

Low-SP 4.5 MW, 140 m 1.2% 50.6% 76.3% 

Low-SP 4.5 MW, 160 m 0.2% 46.3% 73.6%
51 

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Table A6. Average State Levelized Cost of Energy ($/MWh)

State

Today 

80 m 

Today 

110 m 

Today 

140 m 

Today 

160 m 

BAU 

110 m 

BAU 

140 m 

BAU

160 m 

LowSP 

3.25 

MW

110 m 

LowSP 

3.25 

MW

140 m 

LowSP 

3.25 

MW

160 m 

LowSP 4.5 

MW

110 m 

LowSP 4.5 

MW

140 m 

LowSP 4.5 

MW

160 m 

AL $72 $66 $64 $67 $54 $52 $54 $52 $51 $53 $50 $47 $48

AR $57 $53 $53 $55 $44 $43 $45 $43 $43 $45 $41 $40 $41

AZ $81 $83 $90 $97 $68 $72 $77 $66 $70 $75 $63 $65 $68

CA $105 $108 $118 $129 $88 $95 $102 $86 $93 $99 $82 $86 $90

CO $63 $65 $71 $77 $55 $58 $62 $54 $58 $61 $51 $53 $56

CT $55 $52 $51 $54 $43 $42 $44 $42 $42 $43 $40 $39 $39

DC $68 $63 $61 $64 $52 $50 $52 $51 $49 $51 $48 $46 $46

DE $49 $47 $49 $52 $39 $41 $43 $39 $40 $42 $37 $37 $38

FL $74 $68 $67 $71 $54 $53 $55 $52 $52 $54 $49 $48 $49

GA $70 $65 $63 $67 $52 $51 $53 $51 $50 $52 $48 $47 $48

IA $39 $39 $41 $44 $33 $35 $37 $34 $35 $37 $32 $32 $34

ID $66 $68 $74 $80 $57 $60 $64 $56 $59 $63 $53 $55 $57

IL $44 $43 $45 $48 $37 $38 $40 $36 $38 $40 $35 $35 $36

IN $46 $45 $48 $51 $38 $40 $42 $38 $40 $42 $36 $37 $38

KS $38 $38 $40 $44 $33 $35 $37 $33 $35 $37 $31 $32 $34

KY $59 $56 $56 $60 $47 $47 $49 $46 $46 $49 $43 $43 $44

LA $61 $57 $57 $61 $46 $47 $49 $45 $46 $48 $43 $42 $44

MA $52 $50 $50 $52 $41 $41 $43 $41 $41 $43 $39 $38 $39

MD $55 $53 $54 $57 $44 $44 $47 $43 $44 $46 $41 $41 $42

ME $51 $49 $49 $51 $41 $40 $42 $40 $40 $42 $38 $37 $38

MI $45 $43 $45 $48 $37 $38 $40 $36 $37 $40 $34 $35 $36
52 

This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications.

State

Today 

80 m 

Today 

110 m 

Today 

140 m 

Today 

160 m 

BAU 

110 m 

BAU 

140 m 

BAU

160 m 

LowSP 

3.25 

MW

110 m 

LowSP 

3.25 

MW

140 m 

LowSP 

3.25 

MW

160 m 

LowSP 4.5 

MW

110 m 

LowSP 4.5 

MW

140 m 

LowSP 4.5 

MW

160 m 

MN $42 $41 $43 $46 $35 $37 $39 $35 $37 $39 $33 $34 $35

MO $45 $43 $45 $48 $37 $38 $40 $37 $38 $40 $35 $35 $36

MS $62 $57 $57 $60 $47 $47 $49 $46 $46 $48 $44 $43 $44

MT $48 $49 $52 $56 $42 $44 $47 $42 $44 $47 $40 $41 $42

NC $66 $62 $63 $66 $51 $51 $53 $50 $50 $53 $48 $47 $48

ND $39 $40 $42 $45 $34 $35 $38 $34 $36 $38 $32 $33 $34

NE $38 $39 $41 $44 $33 $35 $37 $33 $35 $37 $32 $32 $34

NH $57 $55 $56 $58 $46 $46 $48 $45 $45 $47 $43 $42 $43

NJ $55 $52 $52 $55 $43 $43 $45 $42 $42 $44 $40 $39 $40

NM $59 $60 $65 $69 $50 $53 $56 $50 $52 $55 $47 $48 $50

NV $66 $69 $77 $83 $58 $63 $67 $58 $62 $66 $55 $57 $60

NY $52 $51 $51 $54 $42 $42 $44 $42 $42 $44 $40 $39 $40

OH $52 $50 $51 $54 $42 $42 $45 $41 $42 $44 $39 $39 $40

OK $40 $40 $42 $45 $34 $35 $38 $34 $36 $38 $32 $33 $34

OR $65 $67 $72 $77 $56 $59 $63 $56 $58 $62 $53 $54 $56

PA $57 $55 $54 $57 $45 $45 $46 $44 $44 $46 $42 $41 $42

RI $47 $45 $46 $49 $38 $38 $40 $37 $38 $40 $35 $35 $36

SC $69 $64 $64 $67 $52 $52 $54 $51 $51 $53 $49 $47 $48

SD $40 $41 $43 $46 $35 $37 $39 $35 $37 $39 $33 $34 $35

TN $65 $62 $62 $65 $51 $51 $53 $50 $50 $52 $48 $46 $48

TX $47 $46 $47 $50 $38 $39 $41 $38 $39 $41 $36 $36 $37

UT $69 $72 $79 $86 $61 $66 $70 $60 $65 $69 $57 $60 $63
53 

This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications.

State

Today 

80 m 

Today 

110 m 

Today 

140 m 

Today 

160 m 

BAU 

110 m 

BAU 

140 m 

BAU

160 m 

LowSP 

3.25 

MW

110 m 

LowSP 

3.25 

MW

140 m 

LowSP 

3.25 

MW

160 m 

LowSP 4.5 

MW

110 m 

LowSP 4.5 

MW

140 m 

LowSP 4.5 

MW

160 m 

VA $66 $63 $63 $66 $52 $51 $54 $51 $51 $53 $48 $47 $48

VT $55 $54 $55 $58 $45 $45 $47 $44 $44 $46 $42 $41 $42

WA $64 $66 $71 $77 $56 $59 $63 $55 $58 $62 $53 $54 $56

WI $46 $45 $46 $49 $38 $38 $40 $37 $38 $40 $35 $35 $36

WV $66 $63 $63 $67 $52 $52 $54 $51 $52 $54 $49 $48 $49

WY $50 $52 $56 $60 $44 $47 $50 $44 $46 $49 $42 $43 $45
54 

This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Table A7. Average State Breakeven Cost ($/kW)

State

Today 

110 m 

Today 

140 m 

Today 

160 m 

BAU 

110 m 

BAU 

140 m 

BAU 

160 m 

Low-SP 

3.25 

MW 110

m 

Low-SP 

3.25 

MW 140

m 

Low-SP 

3.25 

MW 160

m 

Low-SP 

4.5 MW

110 m 

Low-SP 

4.5 MW

140 m 

Low-SP 

4.5 MW

160 m 

AL $412 $793 $917 $849 $1,208 $1,325 $1,059 $1,406 $1,520 $1,037 $1,385 $1,499

AR $352 $667 $772 $726 $1,017 $1,116 $902 $1,182 $1,277 $883 $1,165 $1,260

AZ $166 $266 $302 $532 $628 $662 $713 $806 $838 $694 $787 $819

CA $146 $221 $245 $470 $537 $558 $631 $694 $713 $614 $677 $697

CO $151 $254 $290 $446 $540 $573 $587 $677 $708 $572 $662 $694

CT $332 $669 $790 $715 $1,038 $1,149 $898 $1,210 $1,316 $879 $1,192 $1,299

DC $373 $771 $919 $773 $1,165 $1,309 $967 $1,353 $1,494 $946 $1,333 $1,475

DE $285 $504 $571 $628 $818 $878 $788 $965 $1,021 $771 $949 $1,006

FL $394 $736 $848 $893 $1,220 $1,327 $1,138 $1,455 $1,558 $1,112 $1,430 $1,534

GA $399 $758 $876 $839 $1,184 $1,297 $1,054 $1,388 $1,499 $1,031 $1,367 $1,477

IA $228 $393 $440 $481 $617 $657 $594 $718 $756 $583 $707 $746

ID $150 $253 $291 $462 $560 $596 $612 $708 $743 $596 $692 $727

IL $262 $455 $512 $560 $723 $774 $695 $847 $895 $681 $834 $882

IN $254 $442 $497 $561 $725 $774 $704 $857 $903 $689 $843 $890

KS $208 $352 $392 $450 $567 $601 $559 $665 $697 $548 $655 $687

KY $315 $587 $672 $665 $917 $997 $833 $1,075 $1,151 $815 $1,058 $1,135

LA $366 $662 $755 $789 $1,059 $1,144 $991 $1,246 $1,329 $969 $1,227 $1,309

MA $307 $603 $708 $662 $938 $1,033 $829 $1,092 $1,183 $811 $1,076 $1,167

MD $294 $549 $634 $645 $880 $959 $811 $1,036 $1,112 $794 $1,020 $1,096

ME $306 $616 $726 $658 $948 $1,048 $822 $1,100 $1,195 $805 $1,084 $1,180

MI $274 $502 $573 $588 $784 $845 $731 $913 $969 $716 $899 $956

MN $245 $434 $491 $531 $690 $739 $660 $806 $852 $646 $794 $840
55 

This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications.

State

Today 

110 m 

Today 

140 m 

Today 

160 m 

BAU 

110 m 

BAU 

140 m 

BAU 

160 m 

Low-SP 

3.25 

MW 110

m 

Low-SP 

3.25 

MW 140

m 

Low-SP 

3.25 

MW 160

m 

Low-SP 

4.5 MW

110 m 

Low-SP 

4.5 MW

140 m 

Low-SP 

4.5 MW

160 m 

MO $285 $509 $575 $583 $775 $833 $719 $897 $953 $705 $885 $940

MS $378 $694 $793 $779 $1,070 $1,162 $969 $1,247 $1,336 $949 $1,228 $1,317

MT $158 $286 $330 $415 $531 $572 $534 $645 $684 $522 $633 $672

NC $331 $625 $725 $716 $994 $1,089 $901 $1,170 $1,263 $881 $1,152 $1,244

ND $216 $381 $430 $485 $623 $665 $606 $733 $772 $593 $721 $761

NE $207 $360 $406 $460 $588 $626 $574 $690 $726 $562 $680 $716

NH $262 $534 $638 $599 $865 $964 $759 $1,019 $1,115 $742 $1,003 $1,099

NJ $326 $629 $732 $702 $984 $1,078 $882 $1,151 $1,241 $863 $1,133 $1,224

NM $174 $304 $351 $491 $615 $659 $644 $764 $806 $628 $748 $791

NV $116 $178 $201 $414 $472 $494 $558 $614 $635 $542 $599 $620

NY $268 $526 $619 $603 $847 $933 $761 $996 $1,078 $745 $980 $1,063

OH $293 $534 $607 $631 $849 $914 $790 $996 $1,058 $773 $980 $1,043

OK $239 $423 $478 $500 $654 $701 $618 $758 $802 $605 $747 $791

OR $158 $281 $326 $458 $577 $620 $604 $719 $761 $588 $704 $746

PA $304 $617 $733 $667 $969 $1,078 $840 $1,134 $1,239 $821 $1,117 $1,222

RI $299 $568 $658 $649 $894 $976 $814 $1,046 $1,123 $797 $1,030 $1,108

SC $381 $718 $829 $806 $1,125 $1,231 $1,012 $1,322 $1,424 $990 $1,301 $1,404

SD $204 $363 $413 $464 $601 $643 $582 $708 $748 $569 $697 $737

TN $319 $606 $702 $689 $961 $1,052 $867 $1,130 $1,218 $849 $1,112 $1,201

TX $273 $499 $572 $611 $807 $869 $766 $947 $1,004 $750 $932 $990

UT $122 $194 $220 $405 $471 $496 $540 $604 $627 $526 $590 $613

VA $310 $595 $697 $684 $960 $1,057 $865 $1,134 $1,229 $846 $1,116 $1,211

VT $246 $494 $592 $586 $831 $925 $749 $990 $1,080 $731 $973 $1,064
56 

This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications.

State

Today 

110 m 

Today 

140 m 

Today 

160 m 

BAU 

110 m 

BAU 

140 m 

BAU 

160 m 

Low-SP 

3.25 

MW 110

m 

Low-SP 

3.25 

MW 140

m 

Low-SP 

3.25 

MW 160

m 

Low-SP 

4.5 MW

110 m 

Low-SP 

4.5 MW

140 m 

Low-SP 

4.5 MW

160 m 

WA $159 $278 $320 $447 $558 $597 $585 $692 $728 $571 $678 $714

WI $296 $543 $619 $618 $833 $899 $766 $965 $1,027 $751 $951 $1,014

WV $295 $575 $673 $652 $920 $1,012 $824 $1,085 $1,173 $806 $1,067 $1,156

WY $140 $248 $287 $395 $496 $532 $515 $612 $646 $502 $600 $634