Even though the cost of wind power has decreased dramatically in the last 10 years, the technology requires a higher initial investment than fossil fuelled generators. Roughly 80% of the cost is the machinery, with the balance being the site preparation and installation.
If wind generating systems are compared with fossil-fueled systems on a "life cycle" cost basis (counting fuel and operating expenses for the life of the generator), however, wind costs are much more competitive with other generating technologies because there is no fuel to purchase and minimal operating expenses.