Hardly any new wind turbines were built in Germany in the first half of the year. Turbine makers call it a “punch in the gut of the green energy transition” and blame environmentalists.
The expansion of wind power in the first half of this year collapsed to its lowest level since the introduction of the Renewable Energy Act (EEG) in 2000. All in all, just 35 wind turbines were build with an output of 231 megawatts. “This corresponds to a decline of 82 percent compared to the already weak period of the previous year”, according to the German Wind Energy Association (BWE) in Berlin.
“This makes one nearly speechless,” said Matthias Zelinger at the presentation of the data. The managing director of the Power Systems division of the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) spoke of a “blow to the guts of the energy turnaround”. This actual development doesn’t match “at all to the current climate protection debate”.
“On the one hand the Federal Government speaks of its achievement of ambitious renewable expansion and climate protection goals for the years 2030 and 2050. On the other hand, the perspective is missing,” said Hermann Albers, President of the German Wind Energy Association (BWE): “The discrepancy between claim and reality is growing.”
The federal government wants to increase the share of renewable energy in the electricity supply from around 40 today to at least 65 percent in 2030. But when in 2021 thousands of wind turbines come to the end of the 20-year subsidy period of the Renewable Energy Act, more wind turbines will be demolished on balance than new ones will be added, the wind industry fears. The government’s green energy and probably also its climate targets would fail.
The reasons for the slump in new construction figures are manifold. Unlike in the past too low subsidies for wind power is not the cause this time. “It’s not about the money,” said Albers: “The energy transition is being slowed down on a small scale.”
The most important cause lies in the legal resistance of wildlife and forest conservationists fighting new wind farms. The BWE President referred to an industry survey of the onshore wind agency. According to its findings, more than 70 percent of the legal objections are based on species conservation, especially the threat to endangered bird species and bats. Wind power president Albers called many complaints unfounded. He claims that the population of the red kite raptors has actually increased in parallel with the expansion of wind power. However, the nature conservation federation of Germany would not support this claim when asked by Die WELT.
In addition to species protection, it is primarily conflicts with noise protection that are leading to legal objections against wind power projects. They are responsible for 17 per cent of legal cases. Monument protection are behind six percent of lawsuits.
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I read through several articles and can’t find the figures on how many of these wind turbines are being lost prior to their “use by date” due to mechanical failure. I have some friends who work for contractors erecting and servicing wind turbines here in PA and they are seeing a lot of them being taken out and replaced much sooner than the manufacturers list them for service. They are also doing a lot more service work than they were originally setup to do. They ain’t complaining, they get paid and paid well, just pointing out there is a good deal of deception at work in selling people on wind power. Is the same true in Germany?
Just south of the White Mts., in Groton NH is a hideous 24-turbine 48-MW installation up on Tenney Mtn. and Fletcher Ridge, built in 2012. They used the usual Greenie lies and hucksterism to push the project through. Concerns about the visual impact (which is huge) were blithely waved aside, with arguments about “dirty coal” and “dangerous nuclear”, as well “dependence on foreign oil” (that’s a good one), and dangers of terrorism. Small-town folk didn’t stand much of a chance against it.
We have recently had occasion to drive up to Rumney twice, about two weeks apart, and on each trip, the blades on those things stood motionless. They will stand for decades, despoiling the view as monuments to a global stupidity of a scale never before seen in human history.
I drive between Pittsburgh and DC several times a year and go to Cape Cod, I 80 to I 95, and pass a lot of wind turbines on both routes. Always like to count how many are not turning. It has taken the place of looking for tags from farthest away and punch buggy!
Apparently, Falmouth on the Cape has shut down its two turbines.
Ahhhh, thats a shame! Was it because of the sharknadoe invasion? 😉
Nope, something far more devastating.
~¿~
Nice! But do they have lasers on their heads?
“dangers of terrorism”
There’s no energy source more susceptible to terrorism than wind turbines. All it takes to destroy one is a bullet to the oil pan (assuming it’s operating).
Drain it and it dies, just like a vehicle.
“The discrepancy between claim and reality is growing.”—Hermann Albers, President of the German Wind Energy Association, as quoted in the above article.
Words best directed to the IPCC and climate alarmists in general.
“It’s not about the money,” said Albers:”
Really? Above was the statement:
” But when in 2021 thousands of wind turbines come to the end of the 20-year subsidy period…”
I doubt they care about any of the implications of wind power’s failures other than keeping the gravy train and the wealth transfer from the middle class going.
I still haven’t seen an answer to the question “as these turbines reach end of life how much will it cost to remove, scrap, and replace them?” Depending on the environment I’ve read about lifespans of 10 to 20 years on average (can’t verify). We’re talking about a never ending replacement cycle of a mechanism that can’t pay for itself unless you increase the cost of the electricity. Do advocates believe wind turbines are a one time cost? Enough of them are out there to know maintenance costs so how does that figure in? Offshore turbines seem especially vulnerable to the elements. Add intermittency to the wind turbine equation is there anything good about them?
No idea how long the average windmill is supposed to last, but about a year and a half ago one at a wind farm 30 miles from my home collapsed. Bent at the middle of the tower, and the turbine housing came right down like a 100 ton helicopter crash.
Beautiful
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-nuV36fvgQ
According to a few articles I’ve read, some wind installations have been abandoned when the subsidies ended. It was claimed that almost nowhere in the world are there any costs or requirements for disassembly or removal in the contracts, so companies are able to just walk away. True??
griff,
yes, there are problems with red tape and continuing grid connections North to South… but these are temporary.
How long is temporary, 10 years? Lots of NIMBY opposition for above ground transmission lines to connect offshore wind to industrial sites in the south and insufficient $capital to bury the transmission lines. Renewable energy is a fool’s errand. Give it up. Restart the nukes. Save a $trillion.