Developers of a German offshore wind farm said they face lost revenue running into millions of euros after the insolvency of Senvion delayed installation, claiming government measures protecting onshore projects show “double standards” by excluding wind at sea.
The insolvency of the Germany-based OEM, plus bad weather in the winter months, means half the 32 turbines won’t be in place at the 200MW Trianel Borkum 2 project by the end of the year as planned, said the project company led by utility EWE.
Bumping the project's full operation into 2020 means the wind farm will lose €0.01/kWh due to degression of the German feed-in tariff (FIT) – a situation the developers said is not of their making, but brought about by “massive delays” to deliveries and installation after a revised supply deal had to be hammered out with the turbine-maker following its insolvency earlier this year.
Efforts to get the final turbines in place by year-end were hampered by bad weather, leaving the project – owned by EWE, Zurich’s utility and 17 municipal German energy groups – staring down the barrel of “possible damage in the mid double-digit millions" as it misses the FIT deadline.
Klaus Horstick, commercial director of Borkum 2, sited in the German North Sea, said offshore projects should get the same protections as their onshore counterparts under special 'hardship' regulations covering Senvion-related delays in a new draft energy law.
Horstick said: “It is incomprehensible to us that the Federal Government measures here with double standards. In terms of equal treatment, we are pushing for a hardship regulation for offshore projects as well.”
Recharge reported in November how the last Senvion 6.2MW turbines rolled out of its Bremerhaven factory bound for Trianel Borkum 2, in an effort to keep the project on schedule.
