Those who drove through the nemont, hebei and yungui mountains are certain to have seen the white windmills in the mountains。
The giant blades are spinning slowly, looking at no effort, and many people feel that the wind is blowing around, making tens of thousands of dollars a day。
But it is rarely clear that a single mainstream wind machine is costing millions, that when there is a wind, power is generated wildly, and that no wind stops all day。
Today, in conjunction with the announcement of the public project of the national general electricity and electricity institute, the wind and electricity corporation, and the national wind and electricity survey data, a full account has been calculated: what is the actual amount of electricity generated on a single day for millions of wind plants? What's the income from selling electricity? Can you make any money with the book
First, understand: where does a million-class windmill spend its money
The country's commercial mainstream is now a 5 mw windmill and the most commonly seen windmill。
According to the industry price report 2024-2026 of the arctic star electricity network and the general hydropower authority, the combined wind process price on land has stabilized at 2500-2,800 yuan/kw。
A simple conversion of the total input of a 5mw wind machine: 5,000 kw x 2,600 kw = 13 million kw, perfect for the public perception that it is worth millions。
We're going to split four blocks without any extra money:
1. Wind engine hosts + leaves + tubes: approximately 7. 5 million, or 58 per cent of total investment. The leaves, gear boxes, transformers are all high-precision imported/nationally produced precision equipment with three blades of more than 160 metres in length and specialized trucks for transport alone
2. Land-building: 2. 2 million. (a) deep-drilling of reinforced concrete bases in the mountains, carrying a class 12 wind with a foundation depth of 10 metres
3. Auxiliary works: 2 million, road repair, containerization, cable, grid-connected equipment, land acquisition compensation
4. Financial reserve: $1. 3 million, interest on construction loan, post-repair reserve。
Many have mistakenly assumed that only windmills can spend money and ignore the cost of loans. The wind and electricity companies have only 20 per cent of their own funds, and the remaining 80 per cent depend on long-term bank loans, with interest of millions over the 18-month construction period and a direct lifting of the initial input threshold。
The cost of offshore windmills is even more exaggerated, ranging from $9,000 to $12,500 per kilowatt (kw) unit, and the total investment of a 10-megawatt sea wind plant is hundreds of millions, which is not covered by the conventional calculations here。
Key core: how many degrees of electricity can a wind engine get? Three scenarios
The short video streaming on the internet has many misleading data: windmills circulate 60 degrees a day, hundreds of thousands of degrees, all theoretically full of ideal values, and reality is almost impossible。
Standard for industry: equivalence hours are defined as the duration of a wind engine operating at full capacity 24 hours a day, with no wind, no wind, no time for overhaul。
National wind and electricity statistics of the national energy agency for 2025: 1820 hours of equal annual wind on land; 2,800-3200 hours in high-quality wind areas such as the inner mon and xinjiang regions; and only 1900-2300 hours in the southern hills and central plains。
We calculate single-day electricity by using the mainstream 5 mw wind machine in three real scenarios:
Scene 1: high-quality windy weather (inner mosaics, wind speed stable 8-10 m/s, full day-to-day)
5 mw = 5,000 degrees per hour, round-the-clock:
One-day electricity generation = 5000 x 24 = 120,000 degrees, which is a wind engine generating ceiling that can be achieved only dozens of days a year。
Scenario 2: national average conventional weather (most of the mountains, northern hills, 8 hours of equal impact)
Equivalent single-day electricity generation = 5000 x 8 = 40,000 degrees, with a daily standard level for most windfields in the country。
Scene 3: little wind in the south, no wind period (mountain cover, 4 hours equal impact)
Equivalent single-day electricity generation = 5000x4 = 20,000 degrees, no wind weather normal in spring and summer。
Here is a correction for the error: wind machines do not rotate on a 24-hour basis. The automatic wind stoppage of less than 3 m/s does not generate power, the wind speed is above 25 m/s triggers protective foliage locking, and extreme rain and snow and ice weather is suspended。
The official announcement of the kiwana wind and power project in guizhou supports the fact that 33 5 mw wind machines have an equivalent of 2,022 hours per year, with an average annual output of 1,011 million degrees per station, and only 27. 7 million degrees per day of conversion, corresponding to the national average。
Iii. How much can a wind machine sell for one day
Gains cannot be based solely on the amount of electricity generated, but on the price of internet access at the core. Since 2021, new land-based wind power has been available on the internet at full parity, with the elimination of the state subsidy, which is divided into three categories:
1. Guaranteed mechanism electricity prices: 0. 28-0. 35 yuan/degree (as defined by the provincial development and reform commission, 70 per cent of the total electricity purchases)
Market-based competitive electricity prices: 0. 18-0. 26 yuan/degree, with lower electricity prices in areas where demand and supply are relaxed
Additional proceeds from green certificates: an additional revenue of 0. 06-0. 09 per degree of electricity, and the purchase by enterprises of green offset carbon emission targets。
The median value of the combined weighted combined electricity price extraction industry is 0. 32 yuan/degree, divided into three types of weather for gross single-day earnings:
4. Heavy weather (120,000 degrees): 120,000 x 0. 32 = $38,400
General average days (40,000 degrees): 40,000 x 0. 32 = 12,800 yuan
Windless weather (20,000 degrees): 20,000 x 0. 32 = $6,400
Seeing a single-day income of almost 40,000 gross, many people find it profitable, but this is only gross revenue from electricity sales, which has not been deducted from the annual fixed costs, and the real net income has been significantly reduced。
Real cost disassembly: a fixed annual cost of millions and a significant decline in profits
Millions of investments are not a one-off investment, and windmills have a rigid annual expenditure over a 20-year design life, with three major costs that cannot be avoided:
1. Annual transport maintenance costs
The water and electricity industry calculates the cost of land-based wind transport at $45-60 per kilowatt per year and the average annual cost of 5 mw wind transport at $225,000-300,000。
Costs include quarterly inspections, foliage repairs, oil exchange in gear case, ice removal operations, transportation staff salaries, equipment spare parts, annual inspection insurance. After five years of operation, the wind engine ages its parts, and the cost of transportation rises by about 10 per cent per year。
2. Principal interest on bank loans (maximum expenditure)
A total investment of 13 million, with its own capital of 2. 6 million, loans of 10. 4 million, long-term loans of 3. 45 per cent for wind and electricity, and loans of 15 years' duration。
Equivalent principal repayments of about $870,000 per year are a rigid annual expenditure that cannot be sustained by lightning, and loans are repaid on time, even without wind or electricity throughout the year。
3. Sites, taxes, loss of wire
Land rental, value added tax and grid transmission losses amount to an annual average of $121,800。
The three categories of total cost averaged 12. 15 million and 1. 35 million, respectively, per annum, with a median of 1. 28 million/year。
V. Real cases of physical projects, accounting for net gains in one year money
Quoting official publicity data from the pixina 100,000 kilowatt wind farm in guizhou, 19 5 mw windmills in the field have an equivalent of 1990 hours, 9. 95 million per year for single stations and 0. 315 yuan per degree for combined electricity。
Gross revenue from single-stage sales throughout the year: 995000 x 0. 315 = 3,134,200 yuan
2. Less 1. 28 million for year-round rigid costs
3. Net gain of $1. 854 million after annual tax on single wind turbines
For 13 million per station, static returns = 1,300 ÷ 185. 42 ≈ 7 years。
Note here: seven years back is a high-quality wind zone in guizhou, using nearly 2,000 hours per year。
In the case of low-wind mountain areas in the south, the annual equivalent is only 1,600 hours, with a single gross annual income of 2. 52 million, offset by a net net income of 1. 24 million, which extends back to 10. 5 years。
Extremely abandoned areas (ghansu, parts of the north-west grid are under-invented) with wind engines having several days per month to compulsively shut-downs, directly exceeding 13 years in the current cycle and close to half of their useful lives。
The three truths break the illusion
Zone 1: make tens of thousands of net profits a day if there's a wind
Truth: over 30,000 per day is gross revenue, after deduction of loans, transportation, taxes, net profits per day for conventional weather only $3,000-$6,000; wind-free weather revenue does not cover cost-sharing on the day it is lost。
Zone 2: a wind engine can make dozens of dollars at zero cost
Truth: each rotation of the blades and gear boxes causes wear and tear, long-term stoppages and re-starts are more costly, and wind and wind power is high, but the replacement cost of late overhauls is rising simultaneously and there is no undepleted power generation。
Mistake 3: all windfields can return in 7-10 years. Ben
Truth: back to the core of wind resources. Wind zones such as the nemon, xinjiang, return in 7-9 years; the central, southern hills in 10-14 years; and areas with severe wind disposal in excess of 15 years, with a wind engine designed to live for only 20 years, with a later period of 5 years being the period of pure profit。
The data for the grand tang hainan offshore wind project are more intuitive: single-station construction costs exceed 20 million and, while using 3150 hours per year, the cost of transportation and cables has doubled, with static recovery of 9. 2 years, far from short-term windfall business。
Vii. The general population is most concerned about the fact that windmills have a 20-year lifetime and are not fully profitable
The standard design period for wind machines is 20 years, and we measure the full life-cycle benefits of the high quality 5 mw wind machine in guizhou:
(a) the first seven years: a net gain of 1. 85 million per year, fully utilized to recover the initial investment of 13 million
(a) the remaining 13 years: no pressure to borrow, deducting 280,000 transport and 150,000 taxes and an average annual net profit of 2. 7 million
Total purity for 13 years = 270 x 13 = $35. 1 million。
Conclusion: the high-quality windmill, which has been operating for 20 years without all inputs, makes a net profit of more than 30 million dollars on a single windmill, which is a long-term sound investment, not a short-term quick-money business。
However, if it is a low-speed, severely restricted site, it is likely that the equipment will soon come to an end with little excess profit。
Viii. Wind and electricity investment hides risks, not losses
Many companies have built wind power, with four uncontrollable risks that directly affect the benefits:
1. Wind speed instability: climate fluctuations, long vegetation cover, annual fluctuations of 10-20 per cent
2. Electro-net passivation restrictions: mandatory hair limitation in low-power valleys and waste of wind energy
3. Increase in the price of raw materials: increase in steel, leafy raw materials and increase in transportation and spare parts costs
4. Volatility in the market price of electricity: the price of light-winded electricity has fallen to less than 0. 2 dollars, and income has been reduced directly。
The xinjiang energy wind project measured 2026: a peak of $0. 34 for the summer, only $0. 22 for the winter valley, more than 50 per cent for the year and extremely volatile returns。
Summary
A 5 mw mainstream windmill, with a cost of 13 million, would ideally produce 120,000 degrees a day, with a gross revenue of 384,000; and a daily average of 40,000 degrees a day, with a gross revenue of 128,000。
Looking at a single-day income is significant, but a million-grade loan is available each year, and the cost of transportation is significantly reduced. High-quality windfields return seven years, with ordinary mountain areas having more than 10 years, with a full 20 years of life to earn high net returns。
Wind and electricity are long-term green energy investments that profit from long-term stabilization of cash flows, and there is no web-based “day-to-day profit-making”。
The state is vigorously promoting wind power, with the core value of clean energy reducing carbon, replacing fire power, taking into account long-term stable returns, suitable for the size configuration of energy enterprises and not for small investments by ordinary people。
