Germany's Wind Power Revolution in the Doldrums

[FBaggins]

The reason is as simple as it is surprising. The wind farm operator, German utility RWE, has to keep the sensitive equipment -- the drives, hubs and rotor blades -- in constant motion, and for now that requires diesel-powered generators. Because although the wind farm will soon be ready to generate electricity, it won't be able to start doing so because of a lack of infrastructure to transport the electricity to the mainland and feed it into the grid. The necessary connections and cabling won't be ready on time and the delay could last up to a year. In other words, before Germany can launch itself into the renewable energy era Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen so frequently hails, the country must first burn massive amounts of fossil fuels out in the middle of the North Sea -- a paradox as the country embarks on its energy revolution.

...snip...
According to the government's plans, capacities are to be increased to 7,600 megawatts by 2020 -- equivalent to the combined output of six or seven nuclear power plants. By 2030, the output is to be as much as 26,000 megawatts. However RWE's managers warn that even the more modest target for 2020 could be "missed by miles."

...snip...
According to internal estimates, RWE alone could lose more than a hundred million euros. Delaying construction is no longer possible. The timing of shipping transports, supplies of materials and the use of specialized construction teams is simply too intricate to easily reorganize. One particularly devastating consequence is that private investors, who only recently overcame their wariness about the technologically challenging business of offshore power generation, now have doubts once more. Tennet says it has secured the €6 billion it needs to invest in its current projects. However the network operator is having a harder time finding investors for the plethora of plans it has for the future. Even the Dutch government is now starting to look into the possible fallout.

Following the setback in the North Sea, the utilities are themselves again discussing the merits of offshore power generation. E.on CEO Johannes Teyssen had planned to earmark several billion euros for the construction of three new wind farms weeks ago. But the bad news from Tennet and Siemens has sowed the seed of uncertainty in his mind too. Time and again, the projects have been tested for possible weaknesses, and their funding tweaked accordingly. Teyssen finally released the money just before Christmas, but his planners estimate that the projects' start dates will be pushed back by 12 to 18 months.





http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,805505,00.html

[wtmusic]

1. Those Germans...first they wanted a New World Order

and then wind power. What next?

[GliderGuider]

2. Is cluster fuck hyphenated, or all one word?

[Yo_Mama]

3. One word

From reading the German press, I gather that some transmission line construction is delayed in court. They don't yet have the capacity to transmit power south once the grid hookup is in place. Germany really needs the power now - the North Sea projects are critical to their transition plan.

http://www.germanenergyblog.de/?p=8253

BNetzA is still revising its outlook on this, having published yet another paper on the subject in December. The meat of this last proposal seems to be that the companies have to put down substantial deposits to really get access.

On November 15th, Tennet warned BNetzA that it just wasn't going to play any more:
http://www.germanenergyblog.de/?p=7831

In a letter to the Chancellory, the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) and the Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMU), TenneT TSO GmbH informed that offshore grid connections in the North Sea are no longer desirable and possible at the current rate and in the current form.

Tennet explained its move with a lack of personnel, material and financial resources of all parties involved, i.e. suppliers and Tennet.

The company was in the process of connecting nine wind farms in the North Sea and would carry on with these projects as planned. However, awarding further direct current connection projects was not possible under the existing framework conditions and at the current rate and form. The general conditions had to be substantially amended for connecting further wind farms to the grid. Besides, the expansion of onshore power lines had to keep up pace with the offshore expansion. This required fundamental changes of the legal framework. Hence, Tennet appealed to the government to start a broad discussion about the necessary amendments to the legal framework and the processes of connection with all offshore partners and the Federal Network Agency (the German grid regulator).

So I think "clusterfuck" is the right word.

They need to unkink this pretty quickly - especially the land connections, and if the government needs to throw in some temporary funding to to get the offshore connections built, it would be wise to do so.

[Nihil]

4. Oops.

All joking about the diesel fumes aside, I feel really sorry for RWE (the wind farm operator)
as they have been dreadfully let down by their subcontractors (Tennet & Siemens).

> Tennet underestimated the challenges presented by the maritime venture, and the work
> at depths of up to 30 meters (100 feet) under water proved extremely laborious.

> The business of offshore power generation -- with all its associated inherent imponderables
> -- is also uncharted territory for Tennet's suppliers like Siemens.

RWE's side seems to be fine - well-planned, prepared & executed - but they've been
hamstrung by the transmission issues. This could become very unpleasant.

[NickB79]

5. Wait, they're using diesel generators to power their wind turbines?

That's the most ass-backwards thing I've ever heard of.

[FBaggins]

6. Just temporarily.

It's a small fraction of what they generate (once that starts happening), but the units often require an outside power source (or batteries, etc) to turn turbine (depending on the design it might just be to turn it to face a shifting wind).

That part of the article is really (IMO) more hype than substance. It makes the article more sensational to say that a wind farm needs a diesel generator producing pollution... but the real story is the expense and delay along with the company's dissillusionment and reigned-in future perspective.

[CreekDog]

7. if you really want to impress me, you'll be this critical of the nuclear industry

but you're not there yet!

[FBaggins]

8. Where did I say anything critical of the "wind industry"?

And more importantly... What gave you the impression that I wanted to impress you?

[CreekDog]

9. you didn't criticize the "wind industry"

you've been very protective of your profession.