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| Is this the future for Greece - and the European Union? |
The Greek word for sun is the name of a proposal for a large scale solar project George Papaconstantinou, the Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change of the Hellenic Republic introduced on the first day of the EU PVSEC 2011 in Hamburg.
Against the background of the massive public depth and the suffering economy in Greece, the initiative is seen as an opportunity to generate economic growth in the economically battered EU-country which enjoys about 300 days of sunshine per year. Supported by EU-funds to stabilize the Greek economy the country, the plan includes the installation of 3-10 GW of solar power in the country, covering an investment volume of roughly 20 billion Euros and the interconnection of mainland electricity grids with the multiple islands.
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While Papaconstantinou admitted that the project will not be feasible without EU-support, he also pointed out that HELIOS offers the possibility for other EU-member states to fulfill their national renewable energy goals set by the European Commission in the so-called 20-20-20 plan. The regulations allow allows statistical transfers of energy (?), joint projects and joint support schemes, which all could be realized within HELIOS.
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The Greeks have apparently not learned anything from the Spain´s solar and wind power policy failure:
Government support of renewable energy production does not provide long-term employment and in fact destroys jobs.
In the Spanish example, we found that each renewable job cost the Spanish taxpayer between $752,000 and $800,000. Even more troubling is the fact that diverting these critical resources cost the Spanish economy 2.2 jobs for every job created. Further, the jobs created in Spain were temporary — two-thirds of them were in installation.
All signs point to a fatally flawed idea. Developing these jobs on a reliable and consistent basis requires ever-more subsidies. It’s a never-ending cycle to keep a bubble inflated, which as Spain discovered costs billions in public funds. Even before Spain’s investment bubble began bursting, the massive investments in renewable energy companies were producing disappointing results.
What’s more, the subsidization of these inefficient sources of energy has led to significant economic hardship on the macro and micro levels. As of 2008, when our study was conducted, the Spanish government had committed approximately $36 billion to renewable energy subsidies; since then the resources committed have grown exponentially and are now well over $100 billion, an amount equivalent to more than 10% of Spanish GDP.
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Or, more probably, the Greek government is well aware of these facts, but it does not care, because it is not their money, but the money provided by EU taxpayers, that is wasted. The time, when the German and other EU taxpayers will put a stop to the insane "renewable" energy/climate change policy both in Greece and elsewhere, cannot be too far away. Otherwise the entire European Union will go broke - and be transformed into a Green Hell.
Having had experience of the Common Agricultural Policy where one commodity could have two prices because of differential subsidies, one can foresee the transfer of some "Spanish practices" to Greece.
ReplyDeleteSolar power is only viable because of the guaranteed "feed-in tariff" at a higher level than conventionally produced electricity.
One can confidently predict that Greek solar installations will produce electricity under cloudy conditions and even at night by the simple expedient of either feeding in electricity from diesel generators or even using them to power bright lights to shine on the panels.
The Mediterranean countries are very experienced at ripping off the EU system. Forty years ago, a Dutch international trader told me "Here and in Germany we have to be careful. In France- well- one can negotiate and in Italy, we must bribe". It won't be any different for special electricity with a phoney, inflated price.
In Italy, I understand that wind power generation is mostly in the hands of the Mafia. They know a good racket when they see one - and this is official!