Thank you for the clarification on the feed in tariff. I was just about ready to build a few wind farms in Germany.

In another bit of annoying mathematics, I figure that the total solar energy contribution to the grid is about the same as one 500 MW coal plant operating with an 80% capacity factor.

Wind obviously produces a more impressive contribution, but it is difficult to schedule. In one publication by the Pembina Institute that I found via the Paul Gipe link, I found that the total capacity of wind turbines in Germany in 2007 was 22,250 MW. Of course, some of those were probably brought into operation sometime during 2007, but for simplicity let's say that they were all operating during the year.

39500000 MW hours (you wrote 39.5 GWh, but I am sure that you meant 39.5 TWh) from 22500 MW capacity yields a fleet wide average CF of 20%.

That is quite a bit lower than the 28%-32% that many wind promoters claim.

Interestingly, I learned today that the feed in tariff rules provide a higher sales price for more challenging wind locations (if there is a lower wind regime, the turbine owner gets to sell for a higher price). Perhaps that explains why there is such a low average CF; some less desirable locations from a technical point of view can still be profitable.

Wonder what will happen as even less desirable locations are brought on line?

Thanks for pointing out what appears to be a discrepancy in my numbers. In my cobbling together of the numbers from different sources, I failed to note that that the $0.62 per KWh number for the average feed-in payout I quoted is for SOLAR SOURCES ONLY.

In 2007, Germany produced nearly approximately 3.5 GWh of electricity via solar PV and approximately 39.5 GWh of electricity via wind. There are many more individual installations of solar PV, and the payout is much higher than wind, but the total capacity of solar PV is less than one tenth of generated wind capacity in Germany.(1)

Tell me more about the 25 new coal-fired power plants being planned in Germany for the next 10 years and then I'll tell you about all of the coal-fired power plants that have been "planned" in the US that have been canceled in the last year alone. If you think the regulatory environment is inhospitable to coal in the US, it doesn't even hold a candle to the level of public opposition in Germany.