Bishop Hill Trouble at the mill
Aug 30, 2012 Energy: solar The UK's energy policy still looks as though it is being run by dyed-in-the-wool greens but elsewhere there is growing evidence that normal economic behaviour is starting to reassert itself. For example, solar panel manufacturers in China are on the verge of extinction (H/T/ Iain):
Two years ago, LDK Solar, one of China's largest solar panel makers, built a new, state-of-the-art factory in the central city of Hefei.
Last month, however, 4,500 of the staff were put on gardening leave. They receive 700 yuan a month to stay at home. The factory has shut down 24 of its 32 production lines.
..."There do not seem to be any orders. People are still turning up for work, but mostly just sleeping. The management has not said much, just that the United States has a new policy that is stopping our exports,"
Meanwhile, even in windy New Zealand, wind turbines can't be made to pay (H/T Mike):
NZ Windfarms, which operates Te Rere Hau windfarm in the Tararua Ranges, posted a wider full-year loss after taking an impairment charge against its assets and reporting power generation was 25 per cent below budget.
The net loss was $24.6 million in the 12 months ended June 30, from a loss of $3.38 million a year earlier. The loss in the latest year included an impairment of assets of $30.7 million. Sales rose to $9.76 million from about $4.1 million.
Reader Comments (52)
"...Well there's your first assumption -- that low wind is the problem. In the Tararuas it's as likely to be high wind...."
How can that be 'an assumption'? It's copied from the claim made by the wind farm operators!
I simply asked if anyone had any wind figures to confirm their claim that the year was a 'poor wind year'. I specifically made no assertion that it was or wasn't (you seem to be assuming that it wasn't!). Your definition of 'assumptions' seems very different from mine, and most other peoples...
Don Quixote was always tilting at windmills, he was Spanish and he was inquisitive. The puzzle pieces are beginning to form a picture.