Germany Begins to Face Its Green Folly

When Germany rejected nuclear in favour of big wind and big solar, few German leaders were considering the consequences of their actions.

"In the next 10 years some investments totaling 150 billion euros ($187.8 billion) will be necessary," Vattenfall Europe chief Tuomo Hatakka told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung. "I assume that the bill for private customers will rise by up to 30 percent to 2020."

He also said the planned shift away from nuclear and fossil fuels towards green energy derived from wind and solar would take longer than expected, citing delays to important projects such as connections to offshore wind parks. _Reuters

Germany is already the second most expensive electricity market in Europe. But it is clearly aiming to be the top most expensive market. This is already playing havoc with industrial customers, but things are going to get worse. Much worse.

Due to the inherent intermittent nature of wind, their wind power system was designed for an assumed 30% load factor in the first place. That means that they hoped to get a mere 30% of the installed capacity – versus some 85-90% for coal, natural gas, nuclear and hydroelectric facilities. That means that, when they build 3,000MW of wind power, they expect to actually get merely 900MW, because the wind does not always blow at the required speeds. But in reality, after ten years, they have discovered that they are actually getting only half of what they had optimistically, and irrationally, hoped for: a measly 16.3 percent. _WUWT

Actually, Al Fin calculated a capacity factor for Germany's wind during 2009, of close to 16.9%, using the figures provided in this article. So a figure over 10 years of close to 16% is quite credible, if perhaps a bit high allowing for official mis-reporting of data -- a type of deception not unknown among activists employed by governments.

Germany's rejection of nuclear and adoption of big wind and big solar, is forcing the country to revert to coal energy -- just to survive. But this "backdoor survival strategy" is not likely to receive much attention in the green-dominated skankstream. Which will be yet one more media crime to place against the growing tally.

Big wind and big solar are so clearly incompatible with modern power grids, that one has to ask why they are being forced down the throats of unwilling utilities, industries, and citizenries?

The answer, of course, rests in the bizarre modern phenomenon of faux environment groupthink. When viewed in its entirety, faux environmental groupthink is building to a $trillion dollar global "enterprise" -- the granddaddy of organised crime scams.

At a time when Europe is sliding into recession, Obama's US economy is mired in stasis, and China's formerly blockbuster economy is slowing rapidly, one would not think that wise governments would want to adopt energy starvation of the green variety as a national, regional, and international policy platform.

But one should never underestimate the stupidity of Idiocratic groupthink.

More: Germany Rethinks Path to Green Future

...the costs are rising at a faster-than-expected rate. The average household in Germany currently pays €144 ($181) a year for these subsidies, and that figure looks set to rise to more than €200 in 2013. In all, it has been estimated that the operators of green power plants have been promised more than €200 million.

Such numbers are big enough to exacerbate social inequalities in Germany. Recipients of "Hartz IV" welfare benefits for the long-term unemployed, for example, receive a fixed sum for electricity and can't afford energy-saving fridges or washing machines. At the other end of the scale, the owners of well-located houses install solar panels on their roofs and are paid for the privilege. _Spiegel