The rain in Spain may stay mainly in the plain, but it won't be falling on giant solar panels for very long says Kenneth Green. Spain is in full retreat on its ill-advised renewable push. It has found its foray into renewable energy unsustainable. (1)
The argument seems irrefutable since the figures that are now assessed by the government are astronomical reports Ute Muller. The subsidies that are going to flow into green energy projects on the Iberian Peninsula amount to a staggering 200 billion euros. Approximately 56 billion euros have already been paid out. The lion's share of this sum went into rather generous feed-in tariffs for wind and solar energy which, since 1995, have attracted numerous investors from both home and abroad. (2)
Tens of thousands of indebted Spaniards have found themselves lumbered with fields full of expensive solar panels whose subsidies have been unexpectedly cut in the financial crisis. Around 62,000 ordinary citizens in Spain have been caught in the financial sun trap. (3)
UNEF, a solar energy association, estimates that since 2007, earnings by owners of solar panels have fallen by up to half in the worst cases, with losses varying according to the type of installation. It is estimated that the complex series of subsidy cuts would cost owners 920 million euros in 2014. (4)
In the first quarter of 2013, Spain saw almost all of its investment in renewable energies evaporate, plummeting a mind-numbing 96%. President Obama once touted Spain as a shining example of green economy success. Clearly, Obama's energy advisers had no clue about the complete lack of viability of renewable energies and have left the President standing embarrassed notes Pierre Gosselin. (5)
Subsidies that have driven the spread of large solar farms across Britain are to be scrapped under plans to stop the panels from blighting the countryside. Energy companies that build solar farms currently qualify for generous consumer-funded subsidies through the so-called 'Renewable Obligation' (RO) scheme, and had expected to keep doing so until 2017. But the Department of Energy and Climate Change announced on May 13, 2014 that it planned to shut the RO to new large solar farms two years early, from April next year notes Emily Gosden. The decision follows an admission by ministers that far more projects have been built than expected, leading to a rising subsidy bill for consumers and increasing local opposition. (6) Lord Marland said solar is already going to cost the consumer 7 billion euros for 400 million euros of net present value. This is on a product where you need the electricity when the sun doesn't shine. (7)
Germany has given away $130 billion, mostly to solar power companies, yet solar power makes up a minuscule 0.3 percent of German power supply, while doing almost nothing toward the original objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. (8) Last year, Germany saw a drop of 13 percent in green jobs, primarily due to collapse of their solar industry. (9)
Gwyn Morgan sums this up well, “The lessons of the green power debacle are clear. For governments, the message is that forcing customers and taxpayers to subsidize any business almost always leads to economic damage and political unpopularity. For investors, the lesson is that companies living on government subsidies may die when the handouts stop.” (8)
References
Kenneth P. Green, “The green energy climbdown continues,” blog.american.com, January 30, 2012
Ute Muller, “Spanish lesson for Obama: green energy transition unaffordable, may soon crash,” Die Welt, May 31, 2014
“Spain: solar investors face bankruptcy,” Global Warming Policy Foundation, May 12, 2014
“Sun sets on Spaniards' solar power dreams,” ndtv.com, May 11, 2014
P. Gosselin, “Renewable energy investment in Obama's once ballyhooed Spain evaporates—plummeting 96%,” notrickszone.com, April 16, 2013
Emily Gosden, “End to solar farm blight as subsidy scheme is scrapped,” telegraph.co.uk, May 13, 2014
Christopher Hope, “Solar panel subsidy was 'one of the most ridiculous schemes ever dreamed u[p', Lord Marland says,” telegraph.co.uk, January 30, 2012
Gwyn Morgan, “The sorry lessons of green power,” theglobeandmail.com, April 30, 2012
Daniel Wetzel, “Germany's green job miracle collapses,” Die Welt, May 28, 2014
Jack Dini is author of Challenging Environmental Mythology. He has also written for American Council on Science and Health, Environment & Climate News, and Hawaii Reporter.
