MONEY MOVING TO OCEAN WIND

Investors warming up to German offshore wind plants

Christoph Seitz (w/ Keith Weir), Sept. 25, 2014 (Reuters)

“Germany's offshore wind parks, once seen as only for brave investors because of high costs and operational risks, are attracting fresh money after laws were passed to ensure ambitious renewables targets are met…British investment firm Laidlaw Capital bought its second German offshore wind park project two weeks ago, following a landmark German offshore wind acquisition by Canadian energy group Northland Power…[For the country's ‘Energiewende’, which moves Germany towards alternative energy sources after a decision to phase out nuclear power by 2022…Germany needs at least 20 billion euros ($26 billion) to achieve its aim of expanding offshore wind capacity to more than 10 times its present capacity by 2020…

“As part of the country's new renewable law, investors can now look forward to guaranteed feed-in tariffs of 19.4 euro cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) over a period of eight years for offshore, better returns than for solar and onshore wind power…Simultaneously, network connections for about 7.7 GW of offshore capacity are to be built by the end of the decade, removing uncertainty over whether there will be sufficient lines to connect parks to the onshore power grid…Costs stand at about 145 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), compared with 81 euros/MWh for onshore wind and 138 euros/MWh for solar…This is expected to drop to 95 euros/MWh by 2025…less than the 100 euro/MWh seen for solar…” click here for more

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