A number of wind park operators in the northern German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein have filed an action for damages with the district court in the town of Itzehoe against the power grid operator E.ON Netz. They are accusing the company of using superficial or specious technical difficulties as an excuse for preventing the use of wind-generated electricity, which is unpopular with energy utilities.
A number of wind park operators in the northern German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein have filed an action for damages with the district court in the town of Itzehoe against the power grid operator E.ON Netz. They are accusing the company of using superficial or specious technical difficulties as an excuse for preventing the use of wind-generated electricity, which is unpopular with energy utilities.
Last year the wind turbines were already taken off the grid for several hours on about 40 windy days. "And with respect to this year we are already talking about a downtime of 15 percent," Hermann Albers, vice president of the German Wind Energy Association (BWE), said. This state of affairs had serious implications for the economic viability of wind parks, he noted. E.ON Netz has countered by saying that at times of excess production of wind power a temporary shutting down of the turbines had been the only way to prevent the company's power lines from overheating.
"Through production management, i.e. the reduction of the amount of wind-generated electricity being fed into the grid when the wind is strong and the grid is being utilized …
... more [truncated due to possible copyright]Last year the wind turbines were already taken off the grid for several hours on about 40 windy days. "And with respect to this year we are already talking about a downtime of 15 percent," Hermann Albers, vice president of the German Wind Energy Association (BWE), said. This state of affairs had serious implications for the economic viability of wind parks, he noted. E.ON Netz has countered by saying that at times of excess production of wind power a temporary shutting down of the turbines had been the only way to prevent the company's power lines from overheating.
"Through production management, i.e. the reduction of the amount of wind-generated electricity being fed into the grid when the wind is strong and the grid is being utilized to full capacity, we ensure the stability of grid operations at times of maximum grid utilization," E.ON Netz spokesman Christian Schneller stated. He unambiguously rejected the accusations leveled at his company by the wind turbine operators. He declared that, on the contrary, the measures adopted by E.ON Netz permitted more than 1,000 megawatts of additional wind-generated electricity to be fed into the grid. "We are not in any way disturbed by the prospect of actions for damages being filed by wind park operators," he added.