Wind power price drop squeezes industry profits

The spectacular price drop in Germany’s auctions for wind energy spells trouble for the industry, write John Blau and Franz Hubik for Handelsblatt Global. “We are going through turbulent times; there will be some upheavals in our industry,” Hans-Dieter Kettwig, chief executive of Enercon, told the authors. “The problem is that prices are falling so fast that technological progress can’t keep up,” explains Arash Roshan Zamir, an analyst with Warburg Research. According to Dirk Briese, head of consultancy wind:research, consolidation in the industry will intensify.
Last week, the price for onshore wind power fell a further ten percent in Germany’s third auction for the technology to an average of 3.8 cents per kilowatt-hour. 

Read the article in English here.

Find plenty of background in the CLEW article Booming German wind power sector fears 2019 cliff and the dossier The Energiewende’s booming flagship braces for stormy times.