Company buys up old wind turbines in Germany to operate them without renewables support

One of Germany’s largest wind farm operators, wpd AG, is buying up old wind farms that are about to reach the end of their 20-year guaranteed remuneration period to operate the turbines without renewables support, Daniel Wetzel writes on Welt Online. “We can bring large volumes on the market this way and at the same time generate cost advantages when it comes to the operation and maintenance of installations,” wpd CEO Carsten Meyer said. About 14,000 turbines in Germany will lose their guaranteed remuneration by 2026, giving the used turbine market “a huge potential” that could especially be used for power purchase agreements (PPA), under which larger customers buy the wind farms’ power output at a fixed rate, Wetzel writes. Repowering measures, where old turbines are replaced by new and more efficient models, are often hampered by tight regulations applicable to more powerful turbines. According to CEO Meyer, the old farms’ average revenue without support amounts to just under one third of their initial value.

See the CLEW factsheet German onshore wind power for more information.