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It’s Not Easy Going Green, Part V: Niet in mijn achtertuin.

By: Steve Maley (Diary)  |  November 22nd, 2011 at 06:30 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

I know a little about the costs of construction and maintenance of oil and gas platforms in a marine environment. I always wondered why it would be cheaper to install and maintain a windmill offshore.

Now I have my answer: it isn’t. Surprise, surprise.

Dutch fall out of love with windmills

Arguments over the high cost and maintenance of sea-based turbines, as well as complaints from residents about unsightly land-based models, have brought the Dutch to an impasse.

Offshore wind farms produce more electricity than onshore ones but it costs twice as much as onshore wind power due to the higher cost of materials, more expensive drilling methods, and more complex maintenance.

Wind turbines in the sea need to be more robust to withstand strong winds and salt water; their maintenance some miles away from the coast requires special equipment and transportation.

Sweet irony: the land of milk chocolate, wooden shoes and tulips has had it up to *here* with windmills.

Oh, well, at least they love the onshore windmills…

Onshore, wind turbines face local resistance.

In 1994, a group of entrepreneurial farmers around the Dutch town of Urk got together and decided to build the country’s largest onshore wind farm with 86 wind turbines nearby. Maxime Verhagen, then minister for economy, innovation and agriculture, said this would be enough to supply 900,000 people.

The project has since been adapted to meet changes in legislation and 20 years after it was launched, construction may finally start this year and be completed in 2014. The only thing holding up the project now is a lawsuit filed by local residents. They say the 30-meter-high wind turbines will spoil their views.

“If we have wind turbines here this old picture will be destroyed,” said the mayor, Jaap Kroon. “We are also concerned about the safety and noise.“

Oh, and the birds. And bats. Let’s not forget the birds and bats.


Niet in mijn achtertuin.


h/t dennism. Cross-posted at stevemaley.com.

COMMENTS

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  • YnotNOW

    Government throws more money in the hopes of creating a new market, and yet that market continues to require increasing subsidy to survive. Why am I not surprised?

  • banzaibob

    I always wondered what “not in my backyard” was in Dutch.

    • http://stevemaley.com Steve Maley

      I always wondered what “Prefiero morir de pie que vivir de rodillas” was in English.

  • gcards

    The project has since been adapted to meet changes in legislation and 20 years after it was launched, construction may finally start this year and be completed in 2014. nike kobe

    • Joshua Persons

      nt

  • Conservative_in_exile

    As (one of the few?) Dutch readers of Redstate I dusted off my old account when I saw this.

    You might be interested at the take of a local on this. The current situation is that a battle may have been won – of sorts, the last project developping wind power offshore has just started, and will still cost the taxpayer billions. But the war as a whole is still ongoing, as on shore projects, sometimes with windmills of up to 400 feet, are still proceeding apace.And while they burn slightly less money, they still ‘run on subsidies’ (Dutch: draaien op subsidie). In fact, one wonders if the total cost of litigation doesn’t make it just as bad.

    Another complicating factor is that the department of Maxime Verhagen (current minister for economy, innovation and agriculture; that department didn’t even exist is 1994, as it’s a recent merger) would pretty much be left with no budget should the windmill-subsidies end. And that would have the same effect as saying to the senators from Alaska they can’t have any pork – it might be the right thing to do, but if you ever need their votes, it’s not a wise policy.

    Alas.

    • http://stevemaley.com Steve Maley

      I thought the literal translation of an American/English idiom into Dutch might produce some humorous or nonsensical results.

      • Conservative_in_exile

        In fact, the translation is perfect. While probably used a little less than the NIMBY phrase in english, it’s one of those expressions that actually work when translated word-for-word; and not just that, the Dutch equivalent exists as an expression, and is used in the same way.

        (fair warning: you’re just lucky. Dutch, while being a mixture of germanic and latin influences – more of the former than the latter – can be notoriousy hard to learn. It has a more complex grammar than English, but not enough structure – like French or German – to approach it that way. On the bright side, 90% of the Dutch have enough English for a rudimentary conversation, and those with higher education are likely to be reasonably fluent, so there’s no pressing need to learn it unless you’re interested in Dutch politics.)

        • congressworksforus

          With all the hacking and coughing I’m doing right now (thanks, kids), I think I could even manage the Dutch accent…