AER sues four wind farm companies over South Australian blackout
Interesting – people start to get upset about their loss of comfort and they look for targets for the ire. Australia has long been the darling of the RE community and it pays the price. The highest power prices on Earth. The political shift is already underway as voters have kicked Labor to the dogs. Now it seems to go further and people start to see who is responsible for their loss of comfort. If RE operators are held liable for the damage they cause, this will throw a permanent wrench into any new development of interruptible energy. And its the most potent reminder that installed capacity is worthless if it cannot deliver when there is demand. I expect brown and blackouts in Germany in shot order – combined with the NIMBY movement against wind this might well bring RE to its knees quicker than the blades can turn.
The Australian Energy Regulator has begun court proceedings against four of Australia’s largest wind farm companies over the role of wind farms in the 2016 South Australian blackout that left 850,000 homes and businesses without power as the entire state experienced a “system black”.
