From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
By Paul Homewood
Now the Dutch are having trouble finding anyone willing to build offshore wind farms without massive subsidies, as Reuters report:
The Netherlands will postpone tenders for two offshore wind farms with a total capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW) due to a lack of interest from potential bidders, the Dutch government said on Friday.
The tenders had originally been planned for September. The government said it would now only open a tender for one location in the North Sea with a capacity of 1 GW then.
The Dutch Climate ministry said in March that interest for the three sites it wanted to tender was very low, after energy firms Eneco and Orsted had said they saw no viable business case without subsidies.
The government said it was still looking into ways to reintroduce subsidies in its tenders for offshore wind farms, as prospective bidders are backing out of the current “zero subsidy” model.
Full story here.
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Which only stands to prove that wind farms produce nothing of value while subsidy farms go belly up without their government tax$$$ (subsidy) fertilization
Well, certainly for offshore wind farms, which cost a lot more, roughly double or more, to build and maintain than onshore turbines. But should be very interesting to see what happens if Texas passes that law to make electricity providers bid to provide “dispatchable” power.
But, but, but…. the fuel is free!
Where’s Nick Stokes?
C’mon Nick, explain this one to us.
Just like coal, oil, gas, water in dams . . .
I just realised electricity is free too – electrons and photons everywhere!
Not like Nick to miss a chance to defend the indefensible.
Nick is busy juggling the plastic between his free fuel power bills and his free rain water rates just at present trusting the red ink will transition to net zero sometime.
Better pickings in Australia where the re-elected Labor government has endorsement of the people to blow taxpayers money on useless stuff like wind farms,. solar farms and batteries.
Australia has very little free enterprise and no free markets. The whole economy is distorted by government largesse. Apart from the investment in mining the rest of the economy runs on government gifts to keep them viable. Only a place with Australia’s mineral wealth could afford to do really stupid things without financial collapse. But China needs Australia and Australia relies on China to make stuff.
Just got my battery inspected meaning it is ready to go on July 1st when the battery subsidies kick in. I have personally benefited directly from government “renewables” cross subsidies and direct subsidies since 2011 to the tune of AUD80k. Just one household with two occupants milking what is on offer from government.
Blackout Bowen is offering all sorts of incentives to get “renewable” energy installed. The incentive guarantee future tax payers will be on the hook for billions for many years to come. All the investment under the AEMO contracts have guaranteed investment returns. And you can bet those returns come irrespective of how much electrical energy is produced.
Dutch government just need to be creative in how they gift wrap all the taxpayers money handed over to the “renewables” proponents so no one can see how much. In Australia, the gift wrapping is labelled “commercial in confidence”. .
The problems in the Netherlands go much wider than wind not building unless subsidised. They have severe grid constraints caused by the rush to invest in solar during the energy crisis. Households used to enjoy net metering for solar, but will be faced with grid charges for solar export soon. Because the solar is mostly uncontrolled it tendsto be wind that suffers curtailment, along with turndown of dispatchable generation, during the say outside winter. Not good for economics or grid stability.
Belgium next door has similar problems.
No actually, like everyone, they just need to stop adding worse-than-useless wind and solar to their grid. Period.
Ditto with the middle class welfare and the Devil take struggletown in Oz. Facing increasing NIMBYism with onshore wind Bowen desperately needs offshoring but imagine what that will cost looking at the Northern Hemisphere copouts and yet somehow magically he needs all those sea cranes etc waaaaaay down South whistling Dixie.
The bozos have a massive housing/rental affordability problem on their hands and yet the March Quarter net immigration figures show Oz is heading back to record levels again. By mid term this red ink Gummint will be looking like Starmer’s you’d reckon.
You could benefit from judicious use of commas, as well. Just sayin’.
I am perfectly happy for government members that wish to proceed with subsidies for windfarms to be paid from their own pockets. Won’t be done, can’t be because they don’t earn enough money for the handouts. So stop bl**dy wasting our money and wake up to reality. Build more nuclear reactors.
Nice try, Netherlands, but you can’t seriously think you can “save the planet” without having to pay for it. Give us a break!
The Netherlands was one of the first countries to commission a report into the ‘Metal Demand for Renewable Electricity Generation’ in 2017. Carried out by Metabolic and the University of Leiden.
The report noted that
“To reach renewable energy production targets the Netherlands requires a significant percentage of the annual production of 5 specific critical minerals” They were neodymium, terbium, indium, dysprosium and praseodymium
It also warned “While we are working on reducing our dependence on Arabian and Russian oil, we are creating a new dependency at the same time: a dependency on (Chinese) metals”
They don’t HAVE a “viable business case,” period. If they did, they wouldn’t need “subsidies.”
This is going to happen more and more often. One of the biggest players in offshore wind, Equinor, pulled out of projects in Spain and Portugal in August 2024 after also closing it’s Vietnam office. Their head of renewables told Reuters
“Its getting more and more expensive and we think things are going to take more time in quite a few markets around the world”
He indicated that the company was considering exiting additional markets.
https://www.offshore.wind.biz/2024/08/29/equinor-axes-offshore-wind-plans-in-spain-and-portugal-weighs-further-market-exits/
Oh Boy! Free money! I’m all good with that.
Oh Darn. No free money. See ya!
So offshore wind takes more energy to construct and operate than it will ever produce…Got it.
An Economist would say after receiving no bids “….it appears to cost more to amortize the construction costs of the equipment plus operate and maintain, than the public is willing to pay in fees for electricity usage.” This does not lead them to “so it’s a dumb idea”…instead it leads them to “….so let’s guarantee the constructors loans over a longer period and turn the opcosts over to public utilities while everyone still thinks the maintenance cost is nearly zero…” …Duplicitous behavior by Machiavellians….
What will it finally take to end the offshore wind insanity? A week long blackout in the dead of winter?
Copilot Ai;
Excessive subsidies can lead to higher consumer costs, as seen in the UK, where industrial electricity prices are four times higher than in the U.S. despite heavy subsidies. Denmark recently reversed its subsidy-free model and is now offering up to $8.3 billion in subsidies to encourage investment. The Netherlands is also considering reintroducing subsidies after low bidder interest forced a postponement of tenders. Market Stability: The offshore wind industry faces rising costs, supply chain bottlenecks, and higher interest rates, making subsidies crucial for maintaining investor confidence.
More good news, we are making progress. I suggest putting out bids for fossil fuel and nuclear generators. You know the stuff that actually works.