Items of interest:

1-Some members of the Wharton Class of 2013 seem to think Gamesa is a pretty neat business model, tracing its wind roots to 1994.  But then, there’s this reality: Today, Gamesa faces challenges both in its home country and abroad to maintain its position as a global leader in the design, manufacture, installation and maintenance of wind turbines and the construction of wind farms.

One of the primary challenges to the company’s success is on its home front. According to a business manager at one of the largest renewable-energy companies in Spain, who works closely with lobbying groups in the country’s wind-energy sector, government subsidies may no longer be available to the extent they have been in the past. In February 2010, the Spanish government announced it would cut spending to reduce its budget deficit to 3% of its gross domestic product by 2013. Prior to that announcement, in May 2009, Spain had already cut subsidies, reportedly because the government had predicted it was already on track to meet long-term goals. 

Coupled with the current uncertainty of Spain’s national debt, these announcements indicate the business manager’s fears may come true. According to him and to a strategy-specialist at the same company, government subsidies are still essential for maintaining profitability in Spain.

C’mon folks!  Is a company which, after all these years, still relies on taxpayer handouts as its basis for profit, the best example of success you could have chosen?

2-“In fact, Ontario’s blind devotion to the romance of wind power is costing Ontario an opportunity to explore and develop innovations in power generation” – Windsor Star

Further to our post yesterday: Investors run from Bluewater Wind

3-“The USDA Forest Service just granted final approval to Iberdrola, Inc. to build more than a dozen, 393-foot wind turbines on two ridgelines in the Green Mountain National Forest in southern Vermont.” – Seven Days

And people are somehow surprised?

4-Interesting:  Fuel Fix says, “All eyes on German renewable energy efforts” … Der Spiegel says, “Germany’s Wind Power Revolution in the Doldrums”

Glass half empty or half full?

5-Politics over science … not much has changed.  Well worth your time!