Lured By “Unrealistic Promises” Of Profit, German Communities Wind Up With “Financial Disasters” And Damaged Environments

The FDP Free Democrat party in the state of Hesse (central Germany) writes in a press release how local utilities and communities are suing wind park development company JUWI, accusing it of “making unrealistic promises” regarding wind energy projects, and calls them “highly speculative business with enormous risks for public budgets“.

Over the years German local utilities and communities have invested tens of millions of euros in local wind parks with the hopes of seeing a ruddy return on investment and making a noble contribution to climate protection at the same time. That dream, it is turning out, has shattered.

The FDP press release in English:

Millions in losses with wind power projects

WIESBADEN – Once again wind projects are producing negative headlines. In the spotlight is “wind energy pioneer” JUWI, which is one of the largest project developers in Hesse. With the Pfalz City Utility and the City Utility of Mainz, two large community electric utilities are suing currently JUWI because the wind prognoses made never came materialized, and thus the returns fell way below the planned budget. Instead of posting profits after more than ten years in operation, community company “Pfalzwind GmbH“ has seen double-digit millions in losses. Pfalzwind operates more than 60 turbines.

‘We see the same result in Hesse as well. Everywhere communities, utilities and energy co-ops were lured by large profits, but in the end most wound up with losses that the citizens will have to cope with. Not only are they stuck with damage to the environment and the landscape, but now they also have a financial disaster to cope with,’ says René Rock, energy policy speaker of the FDP faction in the Hesse state parliament.

Rock adds:

‘The lawsuits by the community utilities once again show that promises made by the wind industry are unrealistic. And due to the falling feed-in rates, the economic prospects are worsening in addition. Also large utilities in Hesse, such as Mainova AG in Frankfurt, are losing money with their stakes in wind parks.

Currently alone in Hesse some 470 wind turbines are in the permitting process. Instead of blindly trusting the promises made by project developers, planned wind power projects involving investment by communities should be halted based on economic sense. In truth wind parks are highly speculative businesses with enormous risks for public budgets.'”

And never mind the industrial blight and environmental destruction they are causing to Germany’s once idyllic landscape, and the threat to human health and wildlife.

 

21 responses to “Lured By “Unrealistic Promises” Of Profit, German Communities Wind Up With “Financial Disasters” And Damaged Environments”

  1. A C Osborn

    They won’t get any sympathy from me, they should have listened to Engineers and not Greenies.

  2. DirkH

    “how local utilities and communities are suing wind park development company JUWI, accusing it of “making unrealistic promises” regarding wind energy projects, and calls them “highly speculative business with enormous risks for public budgets“.”

    I thought the munis were all fired up for getting giant whirlygigs right next to their villages – for a handful of Euros rent. And it didn’t work out in spite of 28 bn Euros subsidy stolen from ratepayers? My oh my, how the mighty have fallen.

    We gotta run all the old parties out of town. And no, the FDP is just another one of them – only that they are already onto the next fraud, the asylum homes.

    1. sod

      ” it didn’t work out in spite of 28 bn Euros subsidy stolen from ratepayers? ”

      D not worry. The problem in this case is, that there is less wind than the partners were told there would be.

      http://www.allgemeine-zeitung.de/wirtschaft/wirtschaft-regional/juwi-soll-windpark-wieder-zuruecknehmen–pfalzwind-gmbh-klagt-auf-rueckabwicklung-des-14-millionen-euro-geschaeftes_16411495.htm

      So this 3 turbines have been “stealing” less money than we thought they would. This should make you really happy!

      1. DirkH

        “So this 3 turbines have been “stealing” less money than we thought they would. This should make you really happy!”

        While we are talking about warmunist crap that doesn’t work.
        “Norwegian Car-B-Q: Tesla Model S Bursts Into Flames, Burns To A Crisp While Charging”
        http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-01-01/norwegian-car-b-q-tesla-model-s-bursts-flames-burns-crisp-while-charging
        “There were more f(i)ringe benefits: according to firefighter, Steinar Olsen, it is dangerous to breathe the smoke from the fire because it has fluorine gas in it, and when an electric car burns down the toxic gases emitted are far more dangerous than those from a normal car. ”
        Flusssäure.

  3. Jeff

    More false wind than Pfalzwind. As usual, we the ratepayers will get stuck paying for their green greed and mistaken judgement (and illogical “hopes”). EnBW is likely in just as big of a pickle…sigh.

    Anyway, on a brighter note, Happy New Year, Pierre and everyone, and may it be a very good one. Thanks for your blog, Pierre, and all the science, variety, and great commenters too.

  4. Santa Baby

    The basis for the Western society is available and cheap energy. Marxism cloaked as environmentalism and climate science is the opposite.

  5. Billy

    They have the pride of knowing they did their part to save the planet. They don’t care about money, right?

  6. sod

    The source of this article is the (economic) liberal party, a group that hates wind power.

    If we look at some news articles, we get a slightly different picture:

    http://www.allgemeine-zeitung.de/wirtschaft/wirtschaft-regional/juwi-soll-windpark-wieder-zuruecknehmen–pfalzwind-gmbh-klagt-auf-rueckabwicklung-des-14-millionen-euro-geschaeftes_16411495.htm

    We are talking about a wind park with 3 (three) wind turbines. Out of a portfolio of 63 (Pfalzwind). And these 3 are responsible for their deficit.

    1. DirkH

      sod 2. January 2016 at 9:26 AM | Permalink | Reply
      “The source of this article is the (economic) liberal party, a group that hates wind power. ”

      Right before the last federal election, the FDP removed all Euro-skeptic and climate skeptic candidates from their lists, to become a 100% Merkel-obedient warmunist pan-European helper.

      Accordingly, they died at the polls.

      Now, as the AfD has emerged as the new Euro-skeptic, climate skeptic, and Islamisation-skeptic party, the FDP tries to re-emerge with the help of the Marxist media to help offer a false alternative for conservatives. Like the CDU, the FDP is again a treacherous group.

      Does any of us hate “wind power”? No. We hate theft.
      If you want to build a wind turbine on your lot, sod, just do so, after you have settled conflicts with your neighbours, who might fear being killed by bladethrow.

      If you want to produce and sell electricity, just do so, after making a contract with someone who wants unpredictable electricity amounts at unpredictable times. I am sure you will find a taker, for a sufficiently small price.

      But do not expect me to pay you the 7 cent / kWh subsidy , or whatever it currently is, for your wind power. In a free market I can find offers that provide power for such a price round the clock, without outages.

  7. average_joe

    >versprochene Windprognosen dauerhaft nicht erreicht wurden
    Isn’t that the problem – how can anybody really know how much wind there is going to be some fixed period/location in the future ?
    But if you believe that of course you might also believe that global averages (whatever that is) can be maintained within some fixed interval by decree from UN.

    1. sod

      ” how can anybody really know how much wind there is going to be some fixed period/location in the future ?”

      This is getting better and better. The german term is “windleistungsvorhersage. Reliability is about 95%.

      https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windleistungsvorhersage

      You can check daily data (projection and real wind output) here live:

      http://www.eex-transparency.com/homepage/power/germany/production/usage/expected-wind-power-generation-

      What you think can not be done, is done on a daily basis with high precision.

      When a new wind park is giving significant less output than it should give, with have three explanations:

      1. just an error. Those happen in all kinds of buusinesses

      2. good projection, but wind changed a little (that is like the 95% in day ahead predictions).

      3. just some greed guys doing business, like in all other sectors.

      1. DirkH

        “3. just some greed guys doing business, like in all other sectors.”

        sod, your job is to DENY that one, not point people to it.

      2. Colorado Wellington

        “Aussicht auf satte Gewinne”

        4. Clever and greedy developers in cahoots with lazy and opportunistic politicians making bad projections to lure investors into schemes with losses covered by taxpayers and ratespayers.

        There is a name for that.

        1. sod

          “4. Clever and greedy developers in cahoots with lazy and opportunistic politicians making bad projections ”

          Predicting output is getting much better. Here some news from Texas, where a radar is used and compared to other measurements and real output.

          http://www.windpowerengineering.com/construction/projects/weather-forecasting/texas-tech-university-mobile-doppler-radars-provide-unique-wind-measurements-to-multi-instrument-doe-field-campaign/

          Look at the numbers. Texas is now having 40% wind on autumn days and will add a lot more next year, while coal is being phased out.

          http://cleantechnica.com/2015/12/18/texas-wind-energy-gaining-ground-expensive-coal/

          A lot of wind is simply working and simply paying its own bills.

          1. DirkH

            Great. Now we can predict large scale outages. “Peons! No electricity for 40 days. XXOO Your warmunist government.”

          2. sod

            “No electricity for 40 days. ”

            Why do you not simply link or quote an instance of 40 days without wind power or without wind?

            Again: Texas (the oil country, remember?) now has 40% wind (percentage of demand) on good days and this is growing!

            And Germany, with a high percentage of wind, has the most stable grid in the world.

          3. DirkH

            sod 4. January 2016 at 10:14 AM | Permalink
            “Again: Texas (the oil country, remember?) now has 40% wind (percentage of demand) on good days and this is growing!”

            Well, you take the words out of my mouth: On GOOD days.

  8. Mick J

    Somewhat related, how some German companies are addressing energy costs by generating their own electricity.

    —————-
    Smaller industrial customers also rely on transported lignite. For example, a power plant operated by Allessa Chemie using pulverized lignite recently entered service at Fechenheim east of Frankfurt, Germany. A similar facility will be completed next year by the WeylChem chemical company in nearby Griesheim. This plant will be capable of firing lignite, natural gas, or “white powder”, an inexpensive biomass substitute. Three truckloads of finely pulverized lignite per day will be supplied from the Rhineland about 200 km northwest near Cologne, with ash returned for mining reclamation.

    An electronic capacity control limits both plants to 19.5 MW operation, alleviating the need to purchase EU Allowances (EUA) for emissions trading. Public hearings are also required only for capacities exceeding 50 MW, and environmental impact assessments per Directive 2014/52/EU above 300 MW.
    http://cornerstonemag.net/lignite-rides-the-rails-in-europe/

    H/T http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2016/1/2/environmentalists-trashing-the-environment-part-729.html

    Mick.

  9. gallopincamel

    It would be wonderful if our ruling elite (here in the USA) would take note of the German green disaster that is hurting the poor while lining the pockets of the rich.

    However we did not heed the warnings from Spain so I am not getting my hopes up:
    http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/finance/2011/november/spains-green-disaster-a-lesson-for-america/?mobile=false

  10. Kapitaalvernietiging windmolens - Climategate.nl

    […] Lees verder hier. […]

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