FRANKFURT -(Dow Jones)- Incalculable technical risks and uncertain project funding due to the financial crisis are jeopardizing the German government's plan to massively expand the country's power generation capacity off its coasts, consultant company PricewaterhouseCoopers said Thursday.
Instead of the government's target to achieve 25 gigawatt of wind power generation capacity by between 2025 and 2030, industry executives forecast only 16 GW, PricewaterhouseCoopers said, citing a survey of 26 executives from the offshore wind power industry.
In September, the government reiterated it expects at least 10 gigawatt wind power generation capacity will be installed off Germany's coasts by 2015.
The consulting company said around 16 of the approved 29 offshore wind parks in the German North and Baltic Seas are in the hands of energy utilities, which are capable of financing the projects with their own funds.
Other companies, however, aiming to finance the projects with debt and refinance their investment with cash earned from the wind parks are feeling the effects of the financial crisis.
"Project financing with around 30% of equity capital in the current market environment is absolutely not realizable," said Heiko Stohlmeyer, a PwC financing expert for renewable energies.
Through 2025 the government's offshore wind power expansion plans would require around EUR48 billion in investment, PwC said.
Technical risks deterring investors include uncertainties related to the technology of offshore wind parks, their connection to the power grid as well as facility maintenance, the survey found.
-By Jan Hromadko and Klaus Hinkel, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29 725 503; jan.hromadko@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 04, 2008 11:16 ET (16:16 GMT)

Publié le 04 Décembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Dowjones