Claim: The Wind Turbine Industry is Running Out of Money
Essay by Eric Worrall
h/t JoNova; The promised green Eldorado has turned into a nightmare of big layoffs, supply chain problems, and razor thin margins.
Opinion: Distribution of value in the wind industry is broken – it’s time for a new settlement
27 June 2022 by Ben Hunt
Former Siemens Gamesa insider says turbine manufacturers are in dire need of the bright future they were promised
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One of the first responses I received was very instructive: “When I joined more than 15 years ago, I was told that I was joining the sector with the brightest and most promising future. The problem is that it is a future that seems never to come.”
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And here is the paradox of the wind energy industry in 2022: if net zero and other decarbonization targets are to be met, the industry should be on the cusp of a growth phase that would dwarf anything experienced so far.
The question is whether the western manufacturing sector will be in any sort of shape to deliver that growth, or it will endure the fate of the long lost solar industry, a spectre now regularly raised by industry leaders.
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Instead the news is full of stories of lay-offs, factory closures and eye-watering financial losses. And the resources required for the necessary investments are in jeopardy.
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Read more: https://www.windpowermonthly.com/article/1791224/opinion-distribution-value-wind-industry-broken-–-its-time-new-settlement
The problem is obvious. Nobody genuinely wants or needs their product.
A lot of people like the idea of renewable energy, but surveys have repeatedly demonstrated renewables are at the bottom of people’s lists of priorities. Even in green Germany, renewable energy is at the bottom of the list, compared to important issues like cost of living, job security and public safety.
You can see this process of addressing other priorities ahead of green energy happening right now in California. California is planning to send people cash payments to help with the high cost of living. They could have spent that money building renewable energy infrastructure, but politicians decided voter dissatisfaction with the high cost of living is a higher priority.
When politicians run short of taxpayer’s cash, it is renewable energy which consistently loses out to other priorities.
ajmarciniak 