| THEY all complain about governments changing their mind about subsidies for renewables but the problem is, after all these years and the billions of dollars paid renewables are still not viable as base load.A good gauge on the market is following the Danish turbine maker, Vestas' whose track record is finely tuned to the wind market.Recently the company announced it would not go ahead with a factory in Kent which would have created 2000 jobs according to Saturday's Daily Telegraph.The reason for caning the Sheerness project covered political support for wind power in Britain.Considering the UK was one of the bastions with minister spinning its values, it still falls short.The same happened in Australia. They even paid the company to build plants only to see them close as the market dried up.The UK plant would have been one of the largest offshore wind turbine factories of its kind in Europe. But Vestas yesterday said it had not received enough orders and hinted the industry had not had sufficient political support from the Government. You really have to replace that word 'political support' with money.Ministers are preparing to cut the subsidies for onshore wind farms by up to 25% and there are concerns generous handouts for offshore wind farms could follow suit.Like Australia, the decision is the second time Vestas has opted out of the UK market in recent years. It closed down a plant making onshore turbines on the Isle of Wight in 2009, with the loss of 400 jobs. As G20 leaders met in Los Cabos, Mexico last week to talk about Europe and the global economy, and then moved on to Rio to tackle climate change, it's hard to find much optimism for any of the renewables.Even the environmental activists, and plenty of others have labelled the meeting as a pointless diplomatic mess.But then again, what else could the conclusion be?The renewables sector is the route of the problem. If it could be proven any of its systems could operate outside the subsidy vacuum then there would be no need for a G20 or G anything else. A lot of countries would embrace the technology with open arms.And gas is not the answer. World demand will make sure the price of gas will continue to rise pushing up local prices in its wake. |
