April 24, 2014
Netherlands

Wind energy unnecessarily pricey

Posted by Maxime Zech | NL Times | 24, April, 2014 | www.nltimes.nl

Because tenant farming prices for land are disproportionately high, the construction of wind farms is too expensive. As a result, wind energy is more expensive than necessary.

Tarriffs from the Kingdom Real Estate and Development Company (ROVB) show that land prices for wind farms have become ten times more expensive than those for coal-powered power plants.

Every year, wind turbine operators pay private land owners between €35,000 and €50,000 in tenant farming for every wind turbine. These contracts are long-term and last between 15 and 20 years.

Per wind turbine, then, the total tenant farming prices can run up to 1 million. The prices are inferred from the tenancy that the Kingdom calculates for land for wind turbines.

A report from the RVOB in 2013 shows that prices have to be calculated according to the market norms, and have to compete with land owners.

Liesbeth van Tongeren, MP for GroenLinks, wants Minister Kamp to research the expensive land. She believes that a lot of subsidy money disappears into the pockets of land speculators and that the government is driving up the price of wind energy for no reason.

Wind energy will be on the table in the House of Representatives on Thursday. The Cabinet wants to triple the amount of wind turbines in the country in the next few years. Offshore wind farms will also become bigger. In 2023, the Netherlands has to create 16 percent durable energy. This is now only four percent.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/04/24/wind-energy-unnecessarily-pricey/