The wind power project at Hästkullen in Viksjö is well on its way to failure. This is the view of the industry organization Maskinentreprenerna, which is now attacking the owners behind the project. In an open letter, the Machine Contractors demand that everyone involved in the project be fully paid for the work done, otherwise the project risks failure.
The wind power project at Hästkullen in Viksjö is well on its way to failure. This is the view of the industry organization Maskinentreprenerna, which is now attacking the owners behind the project. In an open letter, the Machine Contractors demand that everyone involved in the project be fully paid for the work done, otherwise the project risks failure.
The wind power project at Hästkullen in Viksjö is well on its way to failure. This is the view of the industry organization Maskinentreprenerna, which is now attacking the owners behind the project.
In an open letter, the Machine Contractors demand that everyone involved in the project be fully paid for the work done, otherwise the project risks failure.
"What happened in Viksjö is a sad example of how things should not go in a large project. Now it seems that it will be the small business owners in the area who have to pay the bill for the chaos in Viksjö," says Hampe Mobärg, who is a senior advisor in the trade association.
The great chaos
It is only a little over a year since the German energy giant RWE and the major bank Credit Suisse …
... more [truncated due to possible copyright]The wind power project at Hästkullen in Viksjö is well on its way to failure. This is the view of the industry organization Maskinentreprenerna, which is now attacking the owners behind the project.
In an open letter, the Machine Contractors demand that everyone involved in the project be fully paid for the work done, otherwise the project risks failure.
"What happened in Viksjö is a sad example of how things should not go in a large project. Now it seems that it will be the small business owners in the area who have to pay the bill for the chaos in Viksjö," says Hampe Mobärg, who is a senior advisor in the trade association.
The great chaos
It is only a little over a year since the German energy giant RWE and the major bank Credit Suisse started construction in Viksjö, but it has been a year of major problems. In October, construction was stopped after the county administrative board discovered a violation of the environmental regulations, and since then the work environment agency has also cracked down on serious deficiencies in the work environment in the area.
The construction stoppage in Viksjö still lasts, and in recent months construction in Viksjö has been characterized by chaos. The general contractor Nordex fought with its own main contractor, Active Works, over unpaid bills. During that fight, payments to the subcontractors were not made.
In some smaller parts of the park where other main contractors are involved, the work has been able to continue, but in general the work has come to a standstill.
Agreement of 25 percent
Active Works has recently filed for bankruptcy and is now subject to a corporate restructuring with debts of just over 200 million to its subcontractors. As the situation looks right now, the company reconstructionist appointed by the district court believes that the best outcome will be a settlement of 25 percent. This means that Active Works can pay 25 percent of the debts.
"Yes, it's too damned litle. This means that it will be the small companies, often family businesses with small margins, who will have to pay the bill for what happened. They have worked in good faith and pushed on because they saw the worldwide financial house Credit Suisse and the energy giant RWE and their project company Nysäter Wind as guarantors for the project, it's that simple," says Mobärg to SVT Västernorrland.
Built in the danger zone
In an open letter to the project owners, the Machine Contractors now write that the entire project is in the danger zone. The small subcontractors will be needed in the area if the construction of roads and foundations for the wind turbines is to resume.
"Credibility is already damaged. If you want to regain trust, you need to make up as quickly as possible, otherwise it will be difficult to recruit machine contractors who want to take the risk of working in Viksjö," says Mobärg.
The wind farm in Viksjö is supposed to consist of 114 wind turbines at a cost of 5.5 billion. The machine contractors believe that the project was characterized from the start by "enormous flaws" in design, planning and management.
Translation into English using Google Translate