The California “turbine rush” started in Altamont Pass in 1981
and ended abruptly a few years later, but not until thousands of
machines filled high-wind areas of California's deserts and
mountain passes. From 1985 to 2003, when the Danish firm Vestas
introduced the V90-3.0MW turbine, the wind industry decreased
its cost of energy – Capital Expenditure (Capex) plus Operating
Expenditure (Opex) divided by Energy Production – by more than
50%, or 4.1% per year compounded. The most important factor in
lowering cost was the growth in sheer size: generator size
increased by a factor of 100 times, that is, 10,000%. Moreover,
annual energy production, aided by higher hub heights and
improved aerodynamic, mechanical and electrical efficiency, grew
by a factor of more than 300 times, that is, 30,000%. This was a
remarkable achievement, and saw wind power brought into
mainstream power generation. By 2004, wind had reached “grid
parity” in the USA, meaning that wholesale wind power prices
were at or below what utilities