Solyndra Sequel No. 83 – Odersun Bites The Dust – Another 260 ‘Green Jobs-Of-The-Future’ Vaporize

Actually, who’s counting? It seems a major solar company goes bust every other day.

Odersun – the latest German ghost town. Failed solar company lays off 260 employees.

The latest to bite the dust and add to the rapidly rising sea level of red ink is Odersun (sorry, but even their website is no longer operating)  in eastern Germany, near the border to Poland.

According to Klimaretter (Climate Rescuers) website:

Frankfurt/Oder headquartered solar company must stop operations on June 1. As the dpa press agecny reports, 260 employees were laid off already last week because the company was unable to pay wages. Negotiations with Staatsholding Rusnano as an investor crumbled over the last week.”

Not even the Russians are interested in German state-subsidized industry or companies.

Odersun is just the latest in a long string of spectacular green failures sweeping across Germany, thus vaporising the fantasy of economic revitalization in the former communist East Germany.

Just months ago politicians from every party were promising high-tech jobs and heady times ahead, thanks to the green revolution they boasted to have ushered in. However, very few people expected bitter reality to replace blissful fantasy so quickly. Politicians, once falling all over themselves to be on camera standing in front of humming state-subsidized solar module production lines, are now bolting for the exits, leaving a landscape littered with shuttered factories.

A money abyss

According to the online Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten:

State of Brandenburg poured tax money to the tune of millions into solar module manufacturer Odersun. The company is now being shut down and its 260 employees will be laid off on June 1. The bankruptcy had sparked a heated debate on the politics of subsidies by the state and especially criticism of economic minister Ralf Christoffers (Left Party) . For years Odersun had been generously supported – with subsidies of more than 10 million euros, a guarantee of 8 million euros, and finally just when bankruptcy appeared inevitable, an emergency funding of 3.2 million euros approved by Christoffers.”

Count it up – well over 20 million euros!

Now that the pigs have thoroughly gorged themselves and left the trough, I wonder who is left to pick up the tab.

11 responses to “Solyndra Sequel No. 83 – Odersun Bites The Dust – Another 260 ‘Green Jobs-Of-The-Future’ Vaporize”

  1. DirkH

    You left out the best from the article: Their product, thin film solar cells, had not even hit the market – no revenue so far.
    And; looking in the wikipedia, they don’t have an own page but I find them here:
    http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regionaler_Wachstumskern

    The list of “regional growth cores”; obviously groups of companies in various cities in Brandenburg, supported by the land. This is the “growth core” of OderSun:

    ArcelorMittal Eisenhüttenstadt GmbH,
    Propapier PM2 GmbH,
    Ferrostaal Maintenance Eisenhüttenstadt GmbH,
    Odersun AG,
    First Solar Manufacturing GmbH,
    Conergy SolarModule GmbH & Co. KG, 5N PV GmbH,
    KV-Terminal Frankfurt (Oder), Hafenbetriebsgesellschaft Eisenhüttenstadt mbH,
    Flugplatzgesellschaft Eisenhüttenstadt / Frankfurt (Oder) mbH,
    Messe-und Veranstaltungs GmbH,
    IHP GmbH- Leibniz- Institut für innovative Mikroelektronik

    Steel? Paper? Solar Cells? What a combination! I’d call those natural enemies… (It’s next to impossible to PRODUCE steel with German energy price let alone GROW the business… The paper industry complains about the increasing probability of short term power fluctuations. Their machines stop for moments and the paper web can rupture which means long interruptions… They hate intermittent power.)

  2. Another “Green Manufacturer” in Germany goes “belly up”! ……can’t be many left, can there? « The Big Green Lie

    […] Solyndra Sequel No. 83 – Odersun Bites The Dust – Another 260 ‘Green Jobs-Of-The-Future’ Vap… […]

  3. Josh

    According to Dr. Gunther Keil, many of the energy-intensive companies (primarily manufacturers of glass, steel, paper and chemicals) are threatened by the loss in quality of energy due to intermittent generation and its consequences for grid stability. Although its not readily understood by some (many?), it seems that even power supply interuptions in the order of a fraction of second can create serious problems for mass production of goods

    1. DirkH

      Yes. Factory automation is designed to be always on.

      1. Josh

        But it appears no-one has told the Merkel government

  4. Josh

    Dear Ms Merkel,

    Bring back Atomkraft now!

    Sincerely,

    Josh

  5. Jean Demesure

    When will this green madness stop ?!?

  6. Bernd Felsche

    Somebody needs to fix Odersun’s Wikipedia page. There were edits after it was declared insolvent, but no mention of insolvency.

By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. more information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this. More information at our Data Privacy Policy

Close