But manufacturers of wind turbines have not been able to increase production to meet demand.
This sounds fishy, to say the least. The Swedish boom is dwarfed by previous booms in Germany, Spain or the USA. Especially the latter, where the problems with PTC (production tax credit), i.e. that Congress would always be late to extend it every two years, meant that new installations would fluctuate by more than a thousand turbines from year to year. Maybe they mean some small Swedish producers? Or have they failed to speak about a worldwideboom that put strain on producers? *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
I think in the end it is a story about how when a government decide to encourage investment in some "new" technology it takes a while for the manufacturers of that technology to catch up with production increases. The approval process might also be lagging factor that will get better as the involved agencies adjust. Or it might be that the process needs to be improved altogether. It is hard to tell from the information available if it is a problem of implementation of policy, or if the policy itself is flawed.
I don't really think it is an enormous problem. They'll work it out as problems are identified if the will is there, which I hope it is. And I don't think that it is an enormous failure if the "10 times the power in 10 years" is delayed a year or two, as long as the wind industry is growing nicely during these 10 years and will continue to after as well. These sorts of high level targets can be useful to get an industry moving in the desired direction but it is less useful as a hard goal that must be achieved in the time allotted. The number is quite arbitrary to begin with, probably decided on because "10 times the power in 10 years" is a nice slogan to throw around in the election campaign. (elections coming up on September 17th)
...on the other hand, the thought just appeared to me. Could it be that Sweden needs special cold-resistant turbines? If so, those could well be in short supply. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
(Although it would be fun to replace the hydroelectric dams up north. Oh and we have the mountains too. Wind powered ski lift anyone?) -----sapere aude
