Climate Changed
Subsidy-Free Wind Farms Risk Ruining the Industry’s Reputation
- Cheapest projects in Germany may not get built, Statoil warns
- Governments must tighten auction rules to ensure delivery
The GE-Alstom Block Island Wind Farm off of Block Island, Rhode Island, on Sept. 14, 2016.
Photographer: Eric Thayer/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Energy companies that stunned the world by offering to build wind farms with no subsidy may ruin the industry’s reputation by never actually delivering on their promises.
That’s the warning of industry executives, who are cautious about the future of zero-subsidy offshore wind farms planned in Germany this year. Developers led by Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG and Dong Energy A/S are betting they can sell the electricity they produce from the wind farms at a profit without any help from taxpayers.