September 21, 2012
Germany

Fuhrlaender of Germany files for insolvency on wind-farm delays

By Sally Bakewell - Sep 21, 2012 - bloomberg.com

Fuhrlaender AG, a German maker of wind turbines, filed for insolvency at a Rhineland court, citing delayed projects and postponed payments from customers.

Fuhrlaender, which filed papers at Montabaur’s district court, had cut 70 staff and started a restructuring this year to focus on its “core” units, the company said in a statement today. It will take “all necessary steps” to keep operating and has already reached agreements with major partners, it said.

Competition from Chinese manufacturers has dragged down prices for wind turbines, while Europe’s economic slowdown has tightened credit markets, curbing funds for project development. Fuhrlaender, which won investment from a Ukrainian group as recently as May, was hurt by a delay in payments, it said today.

“Financing both takes longer and is more difficult to secure, so projects are being delayed,” said Eduardo Tabbush, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. “Manufacturers have also been hit by falling demand and prices, so if you don’t have the scale or the technology it is difficult to compete.”

Turbine prices fell about 8 percent to about 939,700 euros ($1.2 million) a megawatt last year, according to New Energy Finance data.

Fuhrlaender, a Liebenscheid-based company set up in 1960 and now with 430 employees, produces a range of turbines including 2-megawatt and 3-megawatt machines.

To contact the reporter responsible for this story: Sally Bakewell in London at Sbakewell1/bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg/bloomberg.net


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/09/21/fuhrlaender-of-germany-files-for-insolvency-on-wind-farm-delays/