April 12, 2021
By Paul Homewood
Beatrice windfarm is one of the offshore wind farms which is wholly owned and operated as a stand alone company. We can therefore learn a lot from their Annual Accounts:
The wind farm has been fully operational since May 2019, so the latest Accounts reflect close to full operation. Revenue for the year was £372 million, of which £281million was government subsidy via Contracts for Difference:
Output was 2382 GWh, meaning the sales price of their power was £38/MWh and a subsidy on top of £118/MWh.
Despite this obscene subsidy, Beatrice only managed to make £83 million profit. Clearly it would not have been viable otherwise:
Operating and other expenses, excluding depreciation of £89 million, total £62 million or £26/MWh. This factor alone makes a mockery of claims by the wind industry that they are viable at below £50/MWh.
The other number to note is the CAPEX of £2.2 billion. Capacity is 588 MW, meaning a capital cost of £3.7 million/MW. Current BEIS estimates of capital costs are £1.6 million/MW. There is very little logic as to why capital costs should have fallen so sharply since work began on Beatrice in 2016.
BEIS are, of course, in a big hole- if they published realistic costings, it would totally destroy the myth of cheap wind power, on which the whole shaky foundation of renewable energy is based.
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