From Watts Up With That?
Essay by Eric Worrall
h/t Peta of newark; “The economics do not stand up” for investing in the cheapest form of energy?
‘Biggest clean energy disaster in years’: UK auction secures no offshore windfarms
Lack of interest was widely expected after government failed to heed warnings about soaring costs
Jillian Ambrose Energy correspondentSat 9 Sep 2023 01.20 AEST
Lack of interest was widely expected after government failed to heed warnings about soaring costs
No new offshore windfarms will go ahead in the UK after the latest government auction, in what critics have called the biggest clean energy policy failure in almost a decade.
None of the companies hoping to build big offshore windfarms in UK waters took part in the government’s annual auction, which awards contracts to generate renewable electricity for 15 years at a set price.
The companies had warned ministers repeatedly that the auction price was set too low for offshore windfarms to take part after costs in the sector soared by about 40% because of inflation across their supply chains.
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Up to 5 gigawatts of offshore wind was eligible to compete, which could have powered nearly 8m homes a year. That would have saved consumers £2bn a year compared with the cost of using electricity generated in a gas power plant, according to the industry group Renewable UK.
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The industry warnings intensified after Vattenfall said in July that it would cease working on the multibillion-pound Norfolk Boreas windfarm because rising costs meant it was no longer profitable.
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Keith Anderson, the chief executive of ScottishPower, said: “This is a multibillion-pound lost opportunity to deliver low-cost energy for consumers and a wake-up call for government.
“We all want the same thing – to get more secure, low-cost green offshore wind built in our waters,” Anderson said. “But the economics simply did not stand up this time around.”
Isn’t the cost of building the plant part of the cost of supplying energy produced by that plant?
If the plant is too expensive to build, how can it’s energy product possibly be described as cheap?
If the Norfolk Boreas wind farm is too expensive to complete, how can it also be described as a potential supplier of the cheapest form of energy?
At least this hilarious debacle has exposed the fiction of cheap renewables. This is why the UK is desperately contemplating energy rationing grid protection measures – Britain can’t afford to build the “cheapest form of energy”.
The drop in British renewable investment appears to be part of a worldwide collapse in interest. A recent wind auction in the Gulf of Mexico only attracted lacklustre interest. A few days ago WUWT reported on a drop in support for wind in New Jersey. Back in June, WUWT also reported a “profound slowdown” in renewable investment in Australia.
Renewables – the energy source so cheap, nobody can afford to build them.
For more information on why renewables are impractical and unaffordable click here.