September 17, 2013
Spain

Consultancy firms hired to axe profits

16 September 2013 by Mike McGovern | Windpower Monthly | www.windpowermonthly.com

The Spanish government has contracted consultancy firms Boston and Roland Berger to advise on the new pay mechanism for wind power generation, according to Spanish press reports today, stirring further discontent across the sector.

Neither consultancy confirmed, citing confidentiality while government offices did not respond to enquiries. The Spanish wind association, AEE, had not received confirmation of the contracts either, though members claim to have done so.

The government issued an invitation to seven consultancies on 23 July to analyse the real costs for each renewables technology under a series of different hypothetical market scenarios.

That call followed the 14 July announcement of a new law ending renewables feed-in tariffs for mainland Spain.

The law marked, instead, a 7.5% pre-tax profitability target across the life cycle of all existing wind capacity, retrospectively applied and in accordance with a thorough evaluation of each renewable technology’s total costs.

AEE has complained the law will not only kill off new projects but will also cause existing operators—with profits previously in double digit figures—to default on finance.

Association members have confided the appointed consultants are the same companies that advised the government on its 2011 cuts to renewables targets.

[rest of article available at source]

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/09/17/consultancy-firms-hired-to-axe-profits/