German offshore wind park to be built without subsidies

An offshore wind park in the North Sea is to be built without feed-in subsidies for the first time, in a sign that renewable energy is becoming more competitive. Both the environment and consumers are likely to benefit.

Deutsche Welle, 14 April 2017

Offshore Windpark Windenergie (Jorgen True/AFP/Getty Images)

German authorities have approved four offshore wind park projects in the North Sea, including one that is to be built completely without the state subsidy that has been usual up to now under a scheme aimed at encouraging renewable energy.

The projects approved on Thursday have a total capacity of 1,490 megawatts, according to the Bundesnetzagentur, which supervises companies' access to Germany's power grid.

According to energy supplier EnBW, the wind park "He Dreiht," with a capacity of 900 megawatts - comparable with the output of a nuclear power station - will be built without any subsidy at all. The three other parks, producing some 600 megawatts, will on average receive a subsidy of 0.44 cents (.47 US cents) per kilowatt hour fed into the grid - much lower than current subsidies for solar plants and wind turbines on land.

It also massively undercuts the subsidy currently paid for offshore wind parks, which can reach 18.4 cents per kilowatt hour, although this is paid for only eight years, while the new projects will be subsidized for 20 years.

The newly approved projects are to start feeding into the grid after 2021.

Germany wants at least 35 percent renewable energy by 2025

Surprising result

Almost a quarter of the price of electricity in Germany paid by consumers goes into subsidies for renewable energy as the country attempts to reach its goal of generating 80 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2050. 

The president of the Bundesnetzagentur, Jochen Homann, said he was surprised at the outcome of the first round of tenders for wind parks, and that consumers stood to benefit in the long run.

"The average weighted award price of 0.44 cents per kilowatt hour is far below expectations. This shows the auction has unlocked medium and long-term cost reduction potential, which will lead to a reduction in funding to an extent that had not been expected," Homann said.

"Offshore wind energy is categorically proving its competitiveness. This is good news for all electricity consumers who contribute to funding renewable energy through the renewable energy surcharge," he added. But he warned that the prices could go up in the next round, which is due next year and will also include tenders for the Baltic Sea.

Wind energy industry representatives say that the price of building offshore wind parks has gone down considerably as more are constructed, and that higher electricity prices are expected on the stock market, meaning that the parks will make enough profit even without subsidies.

Illustration: Tennet website

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"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth, 4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“… 4 - Energy (again)

The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet; again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!

Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much…

Water

We've told you that one of the greatest natural resources of the planet, which is going to shift and change and be mysterious to you, is fresh water. It's going to be the next gold, dear ones. So, we have also given you some hints and examples and again we plead: Even before the potentials of running out of it, learn how to desalinate water in real time without heat. It's there, it's doable, and some already have it in the lab. This will create inexpensive fresh water for the planet. 

There is a change of attitude that is starting to occur. Slowly you're starting to see it and the only thing getting in the way of it are those companies with the big money who currently have the old system. That's starting to change as well. For the big money always wants to invest in what it knows is coming next, but it wants to create what is coming next within the framework of what it has "on the shelf." What is on the shelf is oil, coal, dams, and non-renewable resource usage. It hasn't changed much in the last 100 years, has it? Now you will see a change of free choice. You're going to see decisions made in the boardrooms that would have curled the toes of those two generations ago. Now "the worst thing they could do" might become "the best thing they could do." That, dear ones, is a change of free choice concept. When the thinkers of tomorrow see options that were never options before, that is a shift. That was number four.”