Wind Energy Collapsing In Germany

Birds don't read WARNING signs...just like many humanoids that don't either.

Has the local Wind Energy become becalmed by the normally supporting political vortex going environmentally quiet during non-election cycle?...

They pay all that money for environmental impact statements and then ignor known flyways, etc.?...

Hydro has some negative impacts, but the footprint is so far the smallest of the renewables cw solar and wind. This was discussed in a previous thread here. An eye opener.

IMO the saner way to do solar is to integrate it with buildings. Would like to see wind scaled down so that it too could be integrated with other structures. Of course, if you decentralize your power sources, you don't need some massive company to sell it to you at a profit, etc.... Not a 'like' for the giants.

Gives you something to look at when you're driving I-70 across Kansas. A couple of weeks ago, I was driving across Kansas and they appear to be in wind turbine construction boom.

They are ugly, but on the prairies, doesn't seem to be so jarring to the senses. But then again, Kansas is someone's back yard too.

Another one bites the dust...

How long before such turbines become ''tornado-fodder'' ?...

Just a matter of time...

http://www.windaction.org/posts/33879-tornado-destroysturbine#.XUnQjuhKiM8

We'll see that generator on Ebay tomorrow....

Overall, though, Germany's conversion to renewable energy has been successful and on track. Especially considering this is no easy goal to accomplish. Overall rate of renewables is running at 44%, with higher peaks depending on wind/sun conditions.

https://e360.yale.edu/digest/renewables-generated-a-record-65-percent-of-germanys-electricity-last-week

https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/renewables-hit-record-77-percent-german-power-easter-monday

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-greenprint-checking-up-on-germanys-transition-to-renewable/

Another pov is that the slowdown cause is bureaucratic - a permitting process that is too costly for smaller scale producers, and allowed large corporations to take more of the market share. Large scale projects have the obvious problem of large, untenable impacts on the environment. And no one wants that in their backyard, so there are objections and projects not being approved. The smaller projects proposed by community groups, which drove wind expansion in the first place, have a more manageable footprint.

Well their electric bills have tripled....I don't know about you but that sort of increase would make life very difficult for most Americans...

These numbers don't look very promising...

https://www.cleanenergywire.org/factsheets/germanys-greenhouse-gas-emissions-and-climate-targets

They seem to have hit a wall...

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-germany-emissions/

Overall rate of renewables up to 47.6% in July 2019.

https://www.dw.com/en/german-renewables-deliver-more-electricity-than-coal-and-nuclear-power-for-the-first-time/a-49606644

But they must continue to expand renewable capacity to meet their long term targets.

The author, John Hinderaker, is another climate denier quack. His conservative rag Powerline is right at the bottom of the swamp along with Watts Up With That blog that swears the US has spent billions on promoting climate change theories.

These guys are surely your heroes because they spout the same unproven garbage.

Yes, Germany has a slow down, but wind power is not dead, no matter how much you want it to be.

How about this:

"Germany could press ahead with the planned expansion of offshore wind farms in the coming years to a greater extent than previously planned.

Instead of reaching the fixed 15,000 megawatts (MW) of wind energy, it is possible to ensure Germany reaches 20,000 MV, officials said.

This is according to Thomas Bareiß, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, who was speaking on Wednesday (12 June) at the German Renewable Energy Summit in Berlin.

If confirmed, this would be a first for the renewable energy sector. The German wind industry have long supported such an increase so that Germany can achieve its 65% target for renewables by 2030. At the end of 2017, 36.2% of Germany’s electricity consumption came from renewables such as wind and solar."

...."State charges and taxes, mainly to support the renewable sector, have reached 52.8 percent of German customers’ final bills, helping to make German retail energy prices the highest in Europe alongside Denmark."...

..."First, Germany’s fabled manufacturing sector cannot afford much higher energy costs than its rivals. Hence, Germany offers substantial discounts to heavy energy users, such as its automobile plants. As a consequence Germany faces lawsuits from the European Union that charge it with illegal subsidies of heavy industry.

Second, German households must bear the financial burden of paying among the highest electricity costs in the world as utilities pass the higher costs of renewables on to them.

Third, Germany’s landscape is being ruined by unsightly wind turbines that spoil pastoral landscapes in virtually every community.

Fourth, the supply of renewables varies dramatically in the course of a day or week."...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/uhenergy/2017/03/31/100-renewables-by-2050-germany-pays-the-price-for-its-ambition/#7d3321161e98

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-energy-retail/german-consumers-paying-record-prices-for-power-portal-idUSKCN1P9233

"... They use up an enormous amount of land that otherwise would be available for agriculture, ...."

.

One of the things about the availability of information brought about by the internet is that it ia even more important to vet your sources. Not all information is equal. Much of it is simply false. SE, you should work on doing a better job vetting your sources and the opinions you champion.

Not only does a windfarm not preclude agriculture, it likely helps it in several ways. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2011/12/111219-wind-turbines-help-crops-on-farms/

..."The Stuttgart Solar Energy Center, a 475-acre facility with more than 350,000 solar panels, was commissioned at a ceremony Tuesday after eight months of construction. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson was among those in attendance.

The facility can generate enough emission-free, renewable energy to power 13,000 homes, according to NextEra Energy, the Florida-based company that built, owns and operates the solar farm. Entergy Arkansas, the state's largest energy provider, has agreed to purchase power from the solar farm for 20 years, the companies said in a joint news release.

The solar farm is about seven miles southeast of Stuttgart in the town of Almyra. It's expected to generate about $8 million in revenue for Arkansas County over its operational lifespan, according to the release."...

13,000 homes? average 4 people per home = 52,000 people... or a football stadium full of people....I wonder what the cost per person is....and considering they already had electric service that was fine, and this is intermittent during the day and nonexistent during the dusk to dawn period...Did anybody ask them if they wanted to pay extra for something they already had?

https://katv.com/news/local/largest-solar-farm-in-arkansas-ready-for-use

"...One of the worst features of both wind and solar energy is that they are terrible for the environment. They use up an enormous amount of land that otherwise would be available for agriculture, development or recreation...."

Note how much more broad the initial claim is than the specific aspect you chose to offer aupport for?

Also, what is up with the 'football stadium' unit of measurement? A person isn't typically crammed together with others at that density except for rare every once in a while. What were you hoping to demonstrate?

Let's get back to the issue at hand and use more standard measurements. You seem quite concerned with the loss of habitat required for solar to power thoae 13,000 homes, the 475 acres. Buy why only for the solar? What about the actual homes. The 13000 homes would only have to average a footprint of about 1600 square feet each to take up 475 acres. Where is your out ry there? Surely highrose condos or underground dwelling would save more habitat.

Your lack of outcry for the same level of impact suggest it is not the impact you are really passionate about.

I am interested to see what your argument morphs into next

I voted you two GA's because I thought you made reasonable responses to SE's obviously biased demonstration of wind energy's "faults".

They have been nullified by someone?????

So, there is no discourse allowed to anything this person has said here?

I'm not surprised!

Discourse away dude....Maybe I'm not biased at all, maybe it's just these 'alternative energy' schemes just don't make any sense....Would you characterize Germany's efforts to reduce CO2 as a successful and economically sound endeavor? What would you say the chances are that they will bankrupt the country trying to reach this illusive goal of "0" GHG emissions ?

Chances of bankrupting by working towards their carbon targets? Zero I'd say.

https://www.focus-economics.com/countries/germany

Domestic fundamentals are strong. Growth forecast is down, but the negative impact on the economy is attributed to global uncertainties. Energy prices are not even mentioned as an issue. That is, by experts in the field of economics.

I would be interested in knowing the total cost of this plant, but can't seem to find it anywhere....is it a secret?

Nearest I can figure is $600 million plus, not including land...

They say 13,000 homes, but they don't say what percentage of the energy mix is solar for those homes...If we figure 100 watts per panel that would be 35MW....Wiki puts the cost of utility scale solar at $4 per watt....that would be $140 million...but the Desoto plant is 90k solar panels it cost $150 million and is rated at 25MW on 235 acres...average yearly output is just 4.8MW....So 4 times as many solar panels would equal $600 million....

https://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/megawhat/Content?oid=3433953

By contrast a 20MW gas fired turbine plant costs about $1 per watt and is available 24/7....That would be about $20 million...

Well the bottom line is not about the percentage of renewable energy they have, it's the reduction of CO2 emissions that is the goal...and buying baseload electricity from neighboring countries is not true reduction, just relocation....So if all this money is being spent for the sole purpose of reducing CO2 emissions, then it seems they are falling short....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissions_per_capita

https://www.cleanenergywire.org/factsheets/germanys-energy-consumption-and-power-mix-charts

Germany has spent an estimated 189 billion euros, or about $222 billion, since 2000 on renewable energy subsidies. But emissions have been stuck at roughly 2009 levels, and rose last year, as coal-fired plants fill a void left by Germany's decision to abandon nuclear power.Oct 7, 2017

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/07/business/energy-environment/german-renewable-energy.html

$580 billion spent...this is going to cost trillions more....

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelshellenberger/2018/09/11/had-they-bet-on-nuclear-not-renewables-germany-california-would-already-have-100-clean-power/#363998d3e0d4

..."Today, the Energiewende finds itself stalled and floundering. Germany’s carbon emissions have stagnated at roughly their 2009 level. The country remains Europe’s largest producer and burner of coal, which generates more than one-third of Germany’s power supply. Moreover, emissions in the transportation sector have shot up by 20 percent since 1995 and are rising with no end in sight, experts say. German consumers have seen their electricity bills soar since 2000, in part because of the renewable energy surcharge."...

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/can-germany-revive-its-stalled-transition-to-clean-energy

From 2013....

"ROMANIA: The Romanian government has cut the incentives paid for wind farms and other renewable energy plants, in a move set to shake investor confidence in what has been a booming market.

An emergency ordinance set to go into effect on 1 July and affecting production through 2016 will halve the green certificates issued to wind producers to a single certificate per megawatt hour of production from a previous two.

The second green certificate will still be issued, but only beginning 1 January 2018. Details of delayed certificate payments, which will be made in steps through 2020, must still be settled by energy regulator ANRE.

The ordinance is widely seen as a response to industrial consumers' complaints that the green certificate programme was costing them too much.

Market players have been bracing themselves for negative legislative developments after a draft law began circulating that would have cut the maximum price for green certificates. However, this is not mentioned in the ordinance.

Romania's installed wind capacity stands at about 2.1GW, nearly half of which began operating last year. The mood has soured this year, and new capacity is expected to fall short of the roughly 1GW initially expected."...

https://www.windpowermonthly.com/article/1185673/romanian-government-slashes-wind-incentives

Collapsing...

From 2018...

..." Certainly the wider investment picture looks grim – clean energy investment in the UK fell 56% last year and the Environmental Audit Committee’s chair said that “a dramatic fall in investment is threatening the government’s ability to meet legally binding climate change targets”.

Alan Whitehead, Labour’s shadow minister for energy and climate change, commented: “It’s clear there is a substantial downward trend in new investment, which is across the board in terms of investment in clean technology ranging from big wind farms right down to the effective collapse of the solar market”. With on-shore wind and PV blocked, “if anything, the country is beginning to introduce a ‘hostile environment’ for green investment for the future”.

It is certainly true that support for on-shore wind and large-scale PV has been significantly curtailed by the government. In answer to a Parliamentary question on 25 May, energy minister Claire Perry, reiterating the Conservative election manifesto position, said that “we do not believe that more large-scale onshore wind is right for England”. Tough planning controls have been imposed, and large on-shore wind projects have been blocked from getting support under the CfD system. It’s the same for large solar farms."...

Collapsing....

https://physicsworld.com/a/uk-renewables-a-hostile-environment/

Eschew obfuscation:

• There is no such thing as <...Renewable Energy...>. The term is a misnomer. All of it is nuclear; all of it is the output of star-like furnaces and it is only the storage medium that varies across the energy sources that are used today.
• Fossil fuels are merely stores of nuclear energy that are being opened and depleted after millennia.
• Wind and solar are simply non-stored sources.

In the early seventies, when I was only just a junior engineering technician, and worked with a senior engineering technician, we wanted to form an early environmental-impact-statement-writing-company. I was going to be in charge of saying no, and he was going to be in charge of saying yes... We would have gotten very rich...

Non-related economic realities soon set in, and alas, it never came to be...