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this is not project related, this is grid related (as you know under German law offshore projects have to be connected to the grid by the local grid operator) and there's two things:

  • a delay of a few months on the (ongoing) construction of one cable, linking to a cluster near Helgoland where RWE has a project under construction. So the turbines there may be built before the grid is connected. RWE is calling for compensation - which is actually already in the law (just not tested for amounts of that scale).  This is linked to supply chain issues in the cable industry (very specialized facilities are required to produce cables that are severe ltens of kilometers long, and capacity is still a bottle neck);

  • worries by Tennet (the grid operator) that it won't be able to finance the new series of cables it needs to build after 2015 (those to be built by then are already financed and will thus be built, so the first 1-2 GW of Geramn offshore is assured to get its connection). This is a regulatory dispute as to what is a reasonable rate of return for that investment and how it should be paid for. The German government is working on the issue and I'm pretty sure it will be solved in due time.


Wind power
by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Fri Jan 20th, 2012 at 05:13:15 AM EST
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