"Due to the coronavirus-induced crash on electricity markets, the operation of installations is hardly economically viable even at the most ideal locations," green energy provider Naturstrom says.
The company wants operators of wind farms to continue receive "a fraction" of the support payments they were entitled to so far, on average 3.2 cent per kilowatt-hour (kWh). It claims such payments would be feasible at a total cost of about 15 million Euros.
Calls for ‘safety net’
Lower Saxony, Germany's biggest wind power state, is hence calling for a “safety net” in the form of continued payments for wind turbines. These payments should be granted for turbines reaching the end of their 20-year support period to prevent these installations from halting operations which could significantly reduce Germany’s overall green energy capacity.
In an open letter to the Bundesrat, Germany’s federal legislative body, the government of Lower Saxony proposes a fixed remuneration for wind turbines of about 4.4 eurocents per kilowatt hour (kWh) for a maximum of seven years.
"Continued operation of fully functional old wind turbines is much cheaper than replacing them with power plants of any technology before their time," Naturstrom board member Oliver Hummel commented.
Power customers, who pay the surcharge with their power bill, would not face higher costs as long as power prices for onshore wind remain above the fixed remuneration.