Interview

“We want an honest debate”

Deutsche WindGuard recently analysed the investment and operating costs of onshore wind-energy projects on behalf of the German Wind Energy Association (BWE) and the German Engineering Federation (VDMA). The study, “The Costs of Onshore Wind Energy”, reached a clear conclusion: with mean electricity-production costs ranging between EUR 0.06 and EUR 0.11 per kilowatt hour (kWh), onshore wind energy continues to be one of the most cost-effective renewable energies. “Thanks to technical optimisation and new concepts for wind turbines, the electricity-production costs of wind turbines have continued to decline significantly in the last few years,” says Thorsten Herdan, head of the German Engineering Federation’s power systems segment. In an interview with new energy, BWE President Sylvia Pilarsky-Grosch talks about the potential for cost reductions and her hopes for an informed debate with politicians.