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Wind farms battered by costs storm

Carol Ryan
The Wall Street Journal

Offshore wind farms “are turning out to be a lousy business”, says Carol Ryan. Industry-leader Orsted, which committed to selling power at a fixed price in 2018-2019, has had its expected returns “torched” by rising costs and higher interest rates. Rivals Shell and Avangrid “face multimillion-dollar fines for calling it quits”. “Further up the supply chain” the three main turbine manufacturers are losing money. “Of all renewable energy projects, offshore wind farms may be the most vulnerable to rising interest rates as they take longer to build and have higher upfront costs.” Average costs have shot up 36% since 2019; building one can cost $4,000 per kilowatt compared with $1,360 for onshore wind and $1,050 for solar. Though capacity is higher and installation less controversial, the industry is “hamstrung” at all levels, from “transmission bottlenecks” getting power to land to “unfavourable terms for seabed auctions”. Modern turbine blades don’t work on older models. The industry needs to get to grips with such issues and governments will “have to pay more”. Linking contracts to inflation, for instance, might encourage governments to speed up permitting processes. A better model is needed for “stormier times”.