While green activists and the renewable energy lobby continue to claim that wind energy costs are falling, the true picture can’t be covered up for ever. Now, the new CEO of Siemens Gamesa warns that the wind sector faces squeeze from rising costs.

Recently appointed Siemens Gamesa chief faces squeeze from rising costs

Offshore wind turbine makers are facing tougher competition and pricing pressure, the head of the sector’s biggest company has warned.

Andreas Nauen, chief executive of Siemens Gamesa, said the high amounts recently bid for offshore wind development rights would “increase the pressure on us to deliver more competitive turbines”.

Nauen took over as chief executive last June, with a mandate to execute a turnround strategy at Siemens Gamesa, which reported steep losses and declining revenue during the 2020 calendar year.

As new contracts worth billions of dollars fly into offshore wind projects in Europe and the US, turbine makers are being squeezed by high input costs and high steel prices on one side, and pressure from developers who want cheaper turbines on the other…

An auction last month in the UK, the world’s biggest offshore wind market, resulted in record prices as a number of relative newcomers to the sector, including several oil majors, battled for seabed rights to develop projects. 

The soaring prices have led to questions about the potential knock-on effects on the supply chain and electricity costs for consumers, given developers will have to find ways to ensure they make an acceptable return.

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The post The truth about wind energy: costs are rising, not falling appeared first on The Global Warming Policy Forum.

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March 17, 2021 at 03:18AM