Take-or-Pay Crisis v2.0: What Wind Power Generators and Providers Failed to Learn from Gas Pipelines' 1980s Dilemma
Article from: OGEL 1 (2011), in Windpower
Introduction
This paper looks at the problem of long-term, fixed cost take-or-pay provisions in Wind Power Purchase Agreements (WPPAs). First, it finds justification for use of some form of take-or-pay agreement in WPPAs, acknowledging the importance of balancing risk such that long term investment in renewable technologies is encouraged. Second, it discusses looming technological and regulatory changes that carry the potential to boost each generator's available capacity by 20 percent or more. This increased capacity, the paper argues, will reduce current wind energy costs by ...