The Nordex Group has adopted a cost-cutting programme to respond to the continuing decline in demand and the sharp change in market conditions in its core market Germany as well as in other European countries, as already announced before. 

General Germany

Producers blame the decline on a loophole in a new law which seeks to minimize the amount of subsidy for new wind projects. New projects are approved in an auction with the lowest bidder getting the nod – at least theoretically. But lawmakers carved out special rules for the so-called “citizens’ energy companies” – cooperative-like entities that allow local communities to own new facilities. 

Taxes & Subsidies Germany

Although well over 20 billion euros are spent each year to boost Germany's green energy sector, coal still accounts for 40 percent of energy generation, down just 10 points from 2000. To avoid disruption in the power and manufacturing sectors, coal imports and mines must keep running, say industry lobbies, despite the switch to fossil-free energy.

Energy Policy Germany

The citizens-energy projects – which took 96% of the capacity available in the tender, Germany’s first onshore round under a competitive process – do not need permits and have 54 months to build their wind farm, rather than the two years that is standard in the market, Nordex said. ...“Manufacturers that do not have any business outside Germany have now been largely left high and dry."

General Germany

Germany's dirty secret underscores the inevitable conclusion that renewables are alone not enough to beat global warming.

Energy Policy Germany

A lorry driver in Germany survived with minor injuries after a crash with a 62m-long turbine blade being transported to a wind facility. Autobahn 33 near Bielefeld was blocked for hours as the blade landed across the road.

Safety Germany

The blade was knocked across the entire width of the autobahn when another lorry ran into the back of one of the transporter’s escort vehicles.

Safety Germany

The giant blade of a wind turbine fell from the truck that was transporting it on Tuesday morning, squashing the cabin of another truck and completely shutting down traffic on a busy motorway.

Safety Germany

Representatives of the wind power sector have complained of a lack of acceptance for this form of energy production in Thuringia. The four dialogue forums, organized by the state government in 2016, were too little to reduce reservations about projects, said Michael Heinrich of plant engineer Enercon on Monday at a meeting in Gotha. Any known planning for a wind farm results in a citizens' initiative being formed.

General Germany

In January, green power plants in Germany were almost completely turned off as energy suppliers for weeks. A so-called dark tone was responsible. A high pressure area provides still winds and fog, while at the same time the electricity demand in Germany is increasing strongly, also because it is so cold.

Energy Policy Germany

The reason for the crash and the identity of the pilot both remained unclear by Thursday afternoon. But the plane reportedly hit the wind turbine at a height of 40 metres in relatively clear air.

Safety Germany

The audit office points to a risk that Energiewende costs could increase more and more, laments a lack of co-operation between the federal and state governments that leads to a doubling up of efforts, and notes that the government hasn’t succeeded in building up functioning cost-control mechanisms.

Energy Policy Germany

The prominent German economist Heiner Flassbeck has challenged fundamental assumptions of the Energiewende at his blog site makroskop.eu. According to Flassbeck, the former Director of Macroeconomics and Development at the UNCTAD in Geneva and a former State Secretary of Finance, a recent period of extremely low solar and wind power generation shows that Germany will never be able to rely on renewable energy, regardless of  how much new capacity will be built.

Energy Policy Germany

In the past four weeks, four giant power-generating wind turbines in Germany have either toppled over or experienced broken rotary blades. Now the question is: How safe are wind turbines really?

Safety Structural Failure Germany

This video by Verlagsgruppe Random House was created for the promotion of the book “Geopferte Landschaften” by Georg Etscheit (editor) and published by HEYNE Verlag. Special thanks to Friends Against Wind for bringing this video to our attention and working to provide the English subtitles. English subtitles by Vind-Alarm-Danmark.eu & Friends-Against-Wind.org.

Impact on Landscape Germany

So far the investigation has found that one of three blades failed catastrophically, thus creating a huge imbalance that caused the tower to buckle 15 meters above the ground and led to the structure crashing down. ...The incident comes weeks after a similar turbine collapse in the Mecklenburg Pommeria town of Süderholz.

Safety Structural Failure Germany

When on New Year's Eve he walked along the Mähneweg near Bocholt, a chunk of ice crashed to the ground just a few meters from where he stood. "I've got a huge horror, of course," he says. The approximately 60-centimeter (nearly 2-foot) ice piece had flown down from a 98-meter high wind turbine.

Safety Icing Germany

Three days after the disaster of a wind turbine near Leisnig in Central Saxony, a technical defect has been found as the cause of the accident. After completion of the investigation it was clear that one of three rotor blades was broken.

Safety Structural Failure Germany

A wind turbine standing nearly 100-meters tall and sited near Leisnig in Central Saxony (Germany) collapsed after one of its three blades broke created an imbalance in the tower. According to the investigative report, the force of the impact imbedded the gearbox unit almost 2 meters into the ground.

Safety Structural Failure Germany

Onshore wind in the production figures accounted for 10% of Germany’s electricity output in 2016, down from 11% in 2015, while offshore wind expanded to 2% of production, up from 1% a year earlier. Wind on land shrank despite a continued rapid addition of new capacity due to weaker winds this year.

Energy Policy Germany