[backwoods-engineer]

Unless a specialized crane is required to change out a major component, the 80m elevation of most turbines (hub height) plays little part in their operating cost - most are operated remotely by computer.

LOL! You ever been up an antenna tower, way up where the wind is threatening to blow your a$$ off into the wild blue yonder? I have. It's difficult, and only certain people will do it, and they want to be paid HANDSOMELY.

You can't replace a wind turbine transmission "remotely by computer". No maintenance of these turbines is done without somebody climbing up there.

In Colorado last year, they had a storm, and it got so cold that the hydraulic fluid got so sluggish that stuff broke in the transmission. You think somebody's going to climb up there in the winter and fix it? Heck, no! How will they get there? Road is snowed over, and there's no place to land a helicopter. So now, you lose capacity until spring.

These things are a maintenance NIGHTMARE.

[DTogo]

You can't replace a wind turbine transmission "remotely by computer". No maintenance of these turbines is done without somebody climbing up there.

My statement: "most are operated remotely by computer." Obviously to "maintain" or service them requires climbing up to the nacelle. The average estimated O&M cost of most modern turbines is $50-60K/year (per turbine).