Assessment of CO2 Emissions and Costs of Decommissioning of Commercial Onshore Wind Farms in Thailand

This study assesses the CO₂ emissions associated with decommissioning of 29 commercial onshore wind farms in Thailand. The decommissioning of the onshore wind farms consists of the disassebly and transport of wind turbines and the demolition and disposal of concrete foundations. Access roads and transmission cables are not included in the assessment due to the conditions of wind farm development in Thailand. Data on 29 wind farms in Thailand were collected from the Energy Regulatory Commission of Thailand (ERC) and the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT). Carbon emission factors of a wind turbine is used to estimate CO₂ emission reductions from recycling wind turbine materials and concrete foundations. The cost of decommissioning per installed capacity is used to estimate each wind farm's cost of decommissioning. Results are shown that total carbon emissions from decommissioning are 779,479.3 tCO₂eq. The average carbon intensity of decommissioning is 10.095 gCO₂eq/kWh and the average cost of decommissioning is 0.0014 USD/kWh. Findings are also shown that CO₂ emissions of decommissioning are minor when compared with other carbon emissions of electricity generation from wind power.