March 20, 2023
...In recent years, (click here) wind turbine manufacturers like Siemens have expressed concerns that the cost of wind energy is getting too low to maintain the development and growth of the market. Rising costs, and government pricing structures present constant challenges to manufacturers.
Again in May 2023, Siemens’ Tim Dawidowsky’s commented, “it’s all about cash.” Obviously, Dawidowsky would like to see European turbine makers get more money – and he’s not the only one. We reported on that comment in an Uptime Podcast episode the following week, along with other concerns about energy pricing strategies.
Because different countries finance energy in vastly different ways, the industry absolutely does not enjoy a level playing field. While many European countries control energy developments outright – and other countries, like the US, has a long history of incentives and subsidy programs – it is difficult to determine actual costs, true profits and losses, and almost impossible to compare energy costs between nations....
...The jettisoned projects (click here) are the latest signs of stress for offshore wind farms that use turbines larger than skyscrapers to harvest power from the sea air, where winds are most powerful and consistent. Soaring materials costs, particularly for steel, forced turbine makers to raise prices. Costs of other key services, like specialized vessels to install the turbines, have jumped sharply as well. And rising interest rates mean that it’s more expensive to take on debt.
That doesn’t mean investment has ground to a complete halt. Some projects in the US and the UK are still going ahead, despite cost increases. And earlier this month, oil majors BP Plc and TotalEnergies SE bid €12.6 billion ($14 million) to develop offshore wind farms in Germany’s North Sea. But canceled and delayed projects show that if governments are committed to offshore wind, they’ll have to pay more to get it.
Capital costs and prices for turbines, cables and other equipment have “gone up sharply,” Mads Nipper, chief executive officer at Orsted, said in a post on LinkedIn. “This means that price of renewable energy regrettably must come up temporarily after years of steep decline.”...
Again in May 2023, Siemens’ Tim Dawidowsky’s commented, “it’s all about cash.” Obviously, Dawidowsky would like to see European turbine makers get more money – and he’s not the only one. We reported on that comment in an Uptime Podcast episode the following week, along with other concerns about energy pricing strategies.
Because different countries finance energy in vastly different ways, the industry absolutely does not enjoy a level playing field. While many European countries control energy developments outright – and other countries, like the US, has a long history of incentives and subsidy programs – it is difficult to determine actual costs, true profits and losses, and almost impossible to compare energy costs between nations....
This is a complete failure by private industry and its leadership to provide a paradigm shift. Private industry is NOT COMPETENT enough to provide the change in energy sources. The CEOs run away from cost and never bother to seek the power of the people to bring about change.
We all know the drill. CEOs get bonuses and salary based often in profits. When profits fail CEOs have to scrap their plans for their next vacation home. The incentives for CEOs to carry out costs that will ultimately be paid back after the utility is operational is counter productive for the people. The profit incentive is not workable on a hot planet.
None of the CEOs in this article solicited the people and/or the governments to find a way forward. They simply looked at a balance sheet and their next bonus and cancelled plans that are vital to energy production.
Public utilities, no different than the purchase of EVs for the USA Post Office, should be the priority of the people and not one man with nothing but a profit margin in mind. There are aspects of governance that should never be privatized. One of those venues is energy production.
July 23, 2023
By Will Mathis
That doesn’t mean investment has ground to a complete halt. Some projects in the US and the UK are still going ahead, despite cost increases. And earlier this month, oil majors BP Plc and TotalEnergies SE bid €12.6 billion ($14 million) to develop offshore wind farms in Germany’s North Sea. But canceled and delayed projects show that if governments are committed to offshore wind, they’ll have to pay more to get it.
Capital costs and prices for turbines, cables and other equipment have “gone up sharply,” Mads Nipper, chief executive officer at Orsted, said in a post on LinkedIn. “This means that price of renewable energy regrettably must come up temporarily after years of steep decline.”...
