From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
By Paul Homewood
PRESS RELEASE
“The assumption in falling wind energy prices is the central basis of the federal government’s Internet Zero enterprise, and it’s demonstrably false. The absurdity of present Internet Zero plans is now uncovered for all to see.”
London, 1 March – Internet Zero Watch is highlighting the truth that claims of falling wind energy prices are contradicted by calls for from wind energy operators for added subsidies on high of present help.
This debate has been in progress since 2017, when analysis revealed by the International Warming Coverage Basis indicated that the wind business’s bids for Contracts for Distinction subsidies (CfDs) have been absurdly low and didn’t mirror underlying capital and working prices.
These observations have been confirmed by various methodologies and by different authors (particulars are given under), and critics repeatedly predicted that the business would finally beg for extra subsidy.
Affirmation that we have been appropriate might be present in the truth that the Monetary Instances is now reporting that wind farm builders, together with the business giants Vattenfall and Ørsted, are asking for tax breaks within the forthcoming price range, providing the spurious justification that inflation has made uneconomic their low Contracts for Distinction contracts awarded for supply in 2024 (FT: “Wind Farm Builders demand UK tax Breaks to offset Rising Prices”).
Internet Zero Watch notes that for the reason that CfD strike costs are inflation-indexed the business’s excuse doesn’t maintain water. Quite the opposite, the demand for tax breaks confirms that the low bids within the CfD auctions have been by no means correct reflections of underlying windpower prices.
Internet Zero Watch says that the Chancellor ought to refuse to be blackmailed by the wind business and should reject calls for for additional monetary help.
Professor Gordon Hughes, creator of a number of of the research cited under, mentioned:
“The offshore wind builders searching for extra subsidies are treating taxpayers as fools. CfD contracts are inflation-indexed, so electrical energy prospects might be paying larger costs for his or her electrical energy till 2040 and past as a consequence of current inflation. The notion that there was an sudden enhance in capital prices since bids have been submitted final summer time is ridiculous, as suppliers have been warning of extreme value pressures for a minimum of 18 months.
The truth is that offshore operators have been submitting unsustainable CfD bids ever since 2017, hoping that one thing would flip up. Even a interval of very excessive market costs shouldn’t be sufficient, so now they wish to be bailed out by tax breaks. The Chancellor ought to simply say No.”
Dr John Constable, NZW’s director of power, mentioned:
“The assumption in falling wind energy prices is the central basis of the federal government’s Internet Zero enterprise, and it’s demonstrably false. The absurdity of present Internet Zero plans is now uncovered for all to see.”
Notes for Editors: Articles and research on unrealistic offshore wind bids for Contracts for Distinction
1. Gordon Hughes, Capell Aris, John Constable, Offshore Wind Strike Costs: Behind the Headlines (GWPF: London, 2017)
2. Gordon Hughes, Who’s the Patsy? Offshore wind’s high-stakes poker recreation (GWPF: London, 2019)
3. John Aldersey-Williams, Ian D. Broadbent, Peter A. Strachan, “Higher estimates of LCOE from audited accounts– A brand new methodology with examples from United Kingdom offshore wind and CCGT”, Vitality Coverage, 128 (2019), pp 25-35.
4. Gordon Hughes, Wind Energy Economics: Rhetoric and Actuality: Quantity I: Wind Energy Prices in the UK (Renewable Vitality Basis: 2020).
5. Gordon Hughes, Wind Energy Economics: Rhetoric and Actuality: Quantity II: Wind Energy in Denmark (Renewable Vitality Basis: 2020).
6. Andrew Montford, Offshore wind: Value predictions and price outcomes (GWPF: London, 2021)
7. Kathryn Porter: Addressing the excessive actual value of renewable technology (Watt Logic 2022)
