{"id":270222,"date":"2023-07-29T19:41:52","date_gmt":"2023-07-29T17:41:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=270222"},"modified":"2023-07-29T19:41:54","modified_gmt":"2023-07-29T17:41:54","slug":"cry-babies-wind-industry-demands-even-more-massive-taxpayer-backed-subsidies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=270222","title":{"rendered":"Cry Babies: Wind Industry Demands Even More Massive Taxpayer Backed\u00a0Subsidies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From STOP THESE THINGS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The wind \u2018industry\u2019 chews through $billions of other people\u2019s money every day, but it\u2019s never enough. Part of the problem is the metric of their mantra. Telling everyone that wind power \u2018is cheap\u2019 and getting cheaper all the time doesn\u2019t gel with \u2018forever\u2019 subsidies, renewable targets, mandates and guaranteed prices for power which is delivered only occasionally, and erratically, at that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inherent paradox in the \u2018wind power is cheap myth\u2019 is being revealed in a rather obvious fashion, as Irina Slav explains below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wind industry just gave the game away<\/strong>
Substack
Irina Slav
6 July 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while ago, in May, I wrote a post headlined \u201cGet out of wind now\u201d<\/a>. The reason I wrote it was that signs were multiplying that the wind power industry was having difficulties sustaining itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, two months later, the industry itself has given away the game of cheap renewables. Not that a whole lot of people won\u2019t pretend nothing happened and won\u2019t continue to claim wind is both cheap and clean. Not that a whole lot of other people won\u2019t buy the claims and then, a few years from now wonder what the hell happened with their money. Oh, well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s what happened this week and many thanks to Azra Dale<\/a> and Stephen Heins<\/a> for sharing the info on their substacks. So, three renewable energy lobby groups in the UK wrote to the government basically demanding first, more money, second, a preferential treatment with regard to CfD auction prices, and three, more money. Openly. With no small amount of frustration with the government\u2019s stinginess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to<\/a> RenewableUK, Energy UK and Scottish Renewables, \u201cThe current emphasis on securing renewable capacity at the lowest possible strike price \u2013 minimising expenditure rather than maximising benefit<\/strong> \u2013  risks creating a less attractive investment environment in the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The race to the bottom on strike prices incentivised by the current auction process is <\/strong>at odds with the reality of project costs and investment needs,<\/strong><\/em> jeopardising deployment targets.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shall we all agree that it is a lovely little example of trying to spin a pretty desperate situation. And failing. Miserably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because the moment you say that low price is not the most important thing, you bust the myth of cheap renewables and \u201ccosts are falling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because the moment you say \u201cthe current auction process is at odds with the reality of project costs and investment needs, jeopardising deployment targets\u201d <\/strong>you admit that the power you produce is not cheap and is only getting less cheap by the BoE rate hike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As if giving away the game in general was not enough, the three associations propose specific ways, in which the government must give them more money. First, they propose a fatter budget for the next offshore wind power tender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe  budget for fixed-foundation offshore wind alone would need to be at least two and a half times higher than its current level to maximise the capacity<\/strong> which could now be secured in this year\u2019s auction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, isn\u2019t this just the definition of affordable and costs-are-falling-and-wind-is-now-cheaper-than-everything-except-perhaps-solar? And this is only the start of the toddler industry\u2019s demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The associations also propose special budgets for emerging technologies such as floating wind and tidal power, with those budgets to be used \u201cto accelerate cost reductions<\/strong> and build up supply chains.\u201d Aww.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also want guarantees for those budgets and guarantees that the technologies will be deployed regardless of, well, everything: \u201cThis could be achieved by setting clear deployment targets and ringfencing budgets<\/strong> for each technology, to ensure that each secures a minimum amount of new capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The analogy that comes to mind is, for instance, tomato farmers telling the government it must mandate that people buy at least 1,000 tonnes of tomatoes every year otherwise they won\u2019t be able to survive and that\u2019s just not fair, so what if people don\u2019t want tomatoes, and life\u2019s too hard so give us some money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third demand, I mean proposal, is almost fit for Baldrick\u2019s cunning plans. It says that future \u201cCfD parameters should reflect their economic environment more closely in terms of supply chain costs and interest rates<\/strong>.\u201d Ahem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me translate: in an extension of the first demand, the industry wants guarantees that their future bids will not be judged on prices, which is how all bids everywhere are normally judged (excluding bribes and stuff like that), but on\u2026 I don\u2019t know what, really.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t know but Net Zero Watch does. In a release<\/a> calling out the three wind associations, Net Zero Watch said that the third proposal comes down to \u201ca revision to the auction rules so that the winners are not determined by lowest bids but by an administrative decision that weights bids according to their \u201cvalue\u201d in contributing towards the Net Zero targets<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a final burst of arrogance, the industry bodies say that \u201cThe trade associations conclude that the definition of the value of CfDs to consumers should be fundamentally reframed<\/strong> to reflect the UK\u2019s net zero targets and to maximise the amount of renewable capacity which could be delivered at a lower cost than new gas projects<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, they seriously said that. Industry associations seriously demanded that the government of a country give businesses from the industry guarantees that there will be a big and comfortable market for their products and that their profits will be ensured. And I thought \u00d8rsted\u2019s CEO was arrogant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s how Net Zero Watch summed the whole thing up:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

This would in effect not only increase total subsidy to an industry that was until recently claiming to be so cheap that it no longer needed public support, but also provide it with protected market shares, all but entirely de-risking investors at the expense of consumers.<\/strong> It would also be an open invitation to graft and corruption.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Why, I must have been wrong about not-really-advising people to get out of wind. If the UK government caves, profits will be a certainty. Well, until either the government or the people go broke because of all that support for cheap wind power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I see some pretty significant moral and ethical concerns right there but what do I know. These aside, if the wind industry gets its way and it may just do, I have to wonder how it will not set a precedent for other industries to demand the same treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, farmers could demand the same guaranteed market for their produce whatever the cost at a comfortable minimum prices, of course, to be shouldered by the government if there\u2019s not enough demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or carmakers could demand that the government makes sure their cars will sell whatever the cost \u2014 at a comfortable minimum price, of course, to be shouldered by the government in case there\u2019s no demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That certainly looks like free enterprise and free market to me.
Substack<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The wind \u2018industry\u2019 chews through $billions of other people\u2019s money every day, but it\u2019s never enough. Part of the problem is the metric of their mantra. Telling everyone that wind power \u2018is cheap\u2019 and getting cheaper all the time doesn\u2019t gel with \u2018forever\u2019 subsidies, renewable targets, mandates and guaranteed prices for power which is delivered only occasionally, and erratically, at that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":270235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-270222","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","9":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/OIG-2023-07-29T181324.587-1.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-18iq","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":275683,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=275683","url_meta":{"origin":270222,"position":0},"title":"Don\u2019t believe the renewables myth. Wind and solar are not\u00a0cheap","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"26\/08\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Politicians everywhere are repeating the mantra that renewable energy is cheap, and we need to use it instead of gas (currently expensive in and near Europe) to bring down energy costs for households.","rel":"","context":"In \"clean energy\"","block_context":{"text":"clean energy","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=clean-energy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-977.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-977.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-977.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-977.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-977.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":271793,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=271793","url_meta":{"origin":270222,"position":1},"title":"Cash Inferno: Offshore Wind Power Fastest Way to Squander Countless\u00a0$Billions","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"06\/08\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Can\u2019t you just use wind energy to run the factories that produce wind turbines? Just kidding.","rel":"","context":"In \"Net zero\"","block_context":{"text":"Net zero","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=net-zero"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0sea-4060902_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C564&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0sea-4060902_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C564&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0sea-4060902_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C564&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0sea-4060902_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C564&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0sea-4060902_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C564&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":254051,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=254051","url_meta":{"origin":270222,"position":2},"title":"Right, OilPrice.com, Wind Power is Unprofitable","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"22\/04\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"A recent article at OilPrice.com explains how wind power is unprofitable, going into detail on some of the economic hurdles that industrial wind power development has encountered. Supply chain problems, inflation, likely the high price of fossil fuels, and other issues have resulted in billions of dollars in losses.","rel":"","context":"In \"CO2\"","block_context":{"text":"CO2","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=co2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0sdfsdfesf-4.jpg?fit=1045%2C588&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0sdfsdfesf-4.jpg?fit=1045%2C588&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0sdfsdfesf-4.jpg?fit=1045%2C588&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0sdfsdfesf-4.jpg?fit=1045%2C588&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":231874,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=231874","url_meta":{"origin":270222,"position":3},"title":"Busting The Big Lie: Vesta\u2019s CEO Admits Wind Power Ain\u2019t Cheap & Never Will Be","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/12\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"As big lies go, the claim that wind power is cheap was a whopper that was bound to come a cropper. What wasn\u2019t expected is that one of the world\u2019s biggest profiteers from the great wind power fraud, Danish turbine maker Vestas would be the one to lift the lid.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-3.png?fit=1200%2C893&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-3.png?fit=1200%2C893&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-3.png?fit=1200%2C893&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-3.png?fit=1200%2C893&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-3.png?fit=1200%2C893&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":222234,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=222234","url_meta":{"origin":270222,"position":4},"title":"Why America\u2019s Green Subsidies Are Making China\u2019s Wind Turbine & Solar Panel Rich","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/10\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cGreen energy\u201d only exists \u2013 because of hundreds of billions of government dollars having thus far propped it up.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/image-207.png?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/image-207.png?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/image-207.png?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/image-207.png?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/image-207.png?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":421373,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=421373","url_meta":{"origin":270222,"position":5},"title":"Ed Miliband\u2019s Most Brazenly Dishonest Claims Yet","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"15\/01\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Ed Miliband\u2019s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has just announced the results of the new CfD auction, in what must go down as one of the most blatantly dishonest and arguably fraudulent Government press releases in recent years.","rel":"","context":"In \"Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ)\"","block_context":{"text":"Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=department-for-energy-security-and-net-zero-desnz"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AQPyWrx9QR2dBvTsN-0Bmgfo6jOqEkaZ8uZpAsNgTbZhGUjG2IXwM2Mh02EaI1M14l5Yy-jofxpZYRS4kzdRhsRn3WwN9X2swLUwsEg_L2f6jwQPEqkK6dVPKRbk6Q-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C697&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AQPyWrx9QR2dBvTsN-0Bmgfo6jOqEkaZ8uZpAsNgTbZhGUjG2IXwM2Mh02EaI1M14l5Yy-jofxpZYRS4kzdRhsRn3WwN9X2swLUwsEg_L2f6jwQPEqkK6dVPKRbk6Q-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C697&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AQPyWrx9QR2dBvTsN-0Bmgfo6jOqEkaZ8uZpAsNgTbZhGUjG2IXwM2Mh02EaI1M14l5Yy-jofxpZYRS4kzdRhsRn3WwN9X2swLUwsEg_L2f6jwQPEqkK6dVPKRbk6Q-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C697&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AQPyWrx9QR2dBvTsN-0Bmgfo6jOqEkaZ8uZpAsNgTbZhGUjG2IXwM2Mh02EaI1M14l5Yy-jofxpZYRS4kzdRhsRn3WwN9X2swLUwsEg_L2f6jwQPEqkK6dVPKRbk6Q-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C697&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AQPyWrx9QR2dBvTsN-0Bmgfo6jOqEkaZ8uZpAsNgTbZhGUjG2IXwM2Mh02EaI1M14l5Yy-jofxpZYRS4kzdRhsRn3WwN9X2swLUwsEg_L2f6jwQPEqkK6dVPKRbk6Q-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C697&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=270222"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":270236,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270222\/revisions\/270236"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/270235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=270222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=270222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=270222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}