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News Digest | Full news service at http://www.renewableenergyfocus.com 12 September/October 2012 | Renewable Energy Focus Germany wrong to focus on offshore wind, says juwi boss J UWI CEO Matthias Willen- bacher has criticised the German government for backtracking on its energy revolution agenda, looking to slow it down on the basis of cost. “A year ago, the government talked about power gaps and blackouts, [but] now the development of renewable ener- gies has suddenly become too fast. This change of mind is justified with the supposedly too high costs for citizens,” he told journalists at the Husum Wind- Energy 2012 trade fair. The boss of the German project development company believes the country’s nuclear phase out and energy turnaround can continue as planned while saving Germany several billion euros. But it will demand less support for offshore wind power and a retrust- ructuring of the payment system for onshore wind, he said. “Onshore wind energy is already cheaper than energy produced in coal or gas power plants,” Willenbacher said. “We have to continue to develop good sites and use the right technology. Taller towers and larger rotors guarantee that turbines generate more than 4000 full load hours a year, even with the same or a smaller generator output. Even offshore wind farms cannot produce significantly more.” He insisted that every kilowatthour of wind energy produced close to the consumer and with the right technol- ogy leads to less need for reserve power plants. “Moreover, peak voltage power grids do not have to be devel- oped and less than half of the storage capacity is needed,” he continued. “This concept leads to a dramatic reduction in the energy turnaround’s cost, and guarantees that electricity will be available and affordable for everyone.” Onshore wind “is definitely cheaper than gas or coal-fired power plants” while “offshore wind turbines are the most expensive way to produce energy”, he said, noting that the cost to consumers of new power lines needed to accommodate output from planned offshore wind capacity is an estimated €20-30bn. Meanwhile “the cost-cutting potential of onshore wind energy compared to offshore wind power can even be greater if the existing remu- neration structure is changed”. In Germany, a fixed rate of €0.09/kWh is paid for power from all wind plants for the first five years of operation. After that projects located at good wind speed sites are compensated with €0.05/kWh. “It is not clear to me why wind sites are remunerated with 9 cents per kilowatthour for five years or longer, although they produce power for 5, 6 or 7 cents per kilowatt hour,” Willen- bacher said. juwi argues for a model whereby very good sites “get the compensation that is necessary for efficient operation”. It suggests, for example, less than €0.05/kWh for sites with excellent wind (about 8m/s at 150m hub height), with the rate then applying over the entire period of operation. “This means that the remuneration for less windy sites is higher - up to an amount that is close to today’s initial compensation. If at the same time the remuneration period is extended to 25 years, thus taking into account the long operating life of the plant, enormous economic costs could be saved without slowing the rapid development of wind energy in Germany.” See the full story online: http://tinyurl.com/95dvn4g BISOL automises production to boost output at PV plant B ISOL GROUP is invest- ing extensively in the modernisation of its solar pho- tovoltaic production plant to further strengthen the quality standards of its solar solutions and working processes, the company says. It is spending €1.5mn to automate its production facility, with the work due to be com- pleted by the end of the year. Modernisation of the company’s production facility began this summer and will increase its production capacity by almost 10%, says the manufacturer of PV modules and other solar power solutions. “Auto- mation and optimisation of the production facility will enable further development, and will increase the company’s interna- tional competitiveness,” the com- pany says. “BISOL Group will also introduce more motor driven manipulators, which will further improve an already friendly working environment and make work even easier for disabled employees.” With the improvements, BISOL says its production plant will operate in accordance with established international quality standards ISO (ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001). The life span of the firm’s PV modules exceeds 40 years, the company adds. Onshore is the way to go for Germany, says juwi CEO, Matthias Willenbacher
