Wind Farm Investment Plunges With Power Prices in Nordic Region

They are complaining that wind power is not profitable anymore in the Nordic Region.  It is currently priced at $50 a mwh and they saw they need $66 to make it work.  July's ISO-NE price was about $26 mwh.  So how would you like to see your prices triple?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-04/wind-farm-investm...

Views: 227

Comment

You need to be a member of Citizens' Task Force on Wind Power - Maine to add comments!

Join Citizens' Task Force on Wind Power - Maine

Comment by Eric A. Tuttle on September 5, 2015 at 12:59pm

If that annual increase was not factored into a project, that would be correct. But in the case of Bingham, these were set figures per year, though may be the average over the 20 years. But the Catch 22 of this, is the term "while producing".

Meaning ? Actual production at 25% annual average, they get 25% or while commissioned they get a pro-rated reduction? Pro-rated from NPR, or expected output? Many questions not asked or addressed. Kingsbury, though they will have Wind Power on their doorstep, still refused (so I was told) they wish to remain without a grid power system. (This could change in years to come which may come at a penalty from their ill gotten funds.) 

Comment by Frank J. Heller, MPA on September 5, 2015 at 11:44am

Never forget every contract with a wind farmer has annual escalators; bid low and raise prices annually. It means the cost of wind power will be more expensive next year, and the year afterwards, and....

Comment by Eric A. Tuttle on September 5, 2015 at 11:23am

I have not read the Federal statutes referred to in this article, however this smells of yet another, though probably already existing corrupt scheme.

http://www.novoco.com/journal/2015/09/briefs_retc_201509.php

First they get the PTC (public funds) starting from the date of project approval (unlike solar date of online) then they get the ITC's to give them a tax break, by investing our public funds.

We fund them and let them make a profit, they get a reduced income tax on that profit from public funds. Sweet Deal

Comment by Kathy Sherman on September 5, 2015 at 11:01am
5% return on investment doesn't sound so bad even if it is down from 2013, but what the article doesn't address is whether the economics are diminishing because sites with better wind resource are already built-out; environmental constraints including human health and quality of life which the Swedes have studied for the smallest of grid scale turbines for 15 years; etc.

Eric is spot-on about the RPS of other states making the huge difference for economics of wind generation in Maine. Oakfield and Bingham will fetch about 8 cents/kWh including 'environmental benefit', plus PTC and unknown escalators and unknown transmission costs, because MA DPU did not re-examine the deal as Maine PUC did. As of 10:33, wind generation was contributing all of 11.15 MW of the 13,942.5 load on ISO-NE. Pitiful for all those millions 'invested', and transmission upgrades and construction will be set by maximum capacity, not MWh, sadly.
Comment by Eric A. Tuttle on September 5, 2015 at 9:35am

940 Kwh being the average Maine home power usage, would be about 11.28 Mwh annually. At .15 per Kwh (approx) CMP rates, that would be $150 per Mwh retail, or $50 wholesale to another distributor of the energy where they in turn make the extra $100. Less any REC's they may have purchased to sell their energy as Green should they be a Fossil Fuel based facility. With Maine REC's trading at around $4 it is profitable, however in other ISO-NE states they trade as high as $60+. So where I ask did the profitability go. 

 

Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.

Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

Not yet a member?

Sign up today and lend your voice and presence to the steadily rising tide that will soon sweep the scourge of useless and wretched turbines from our beloved Maine countryside. For many of us, our little pieces of paradise have been hard won. Did the carpetbaggers think they could simply steal them from us?

We have the facts on our side. We have the truth on our side. All we need now is YOU.

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

 -- Mahatma Gandhi

"It's not whether you get knocked down: it's whether you get up."
Vince Lombardi 

Task Force membership is free. Please sign up today!

Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

© 2024   Created by Webmaster.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service