Windfarm owners face financial turbulence

Claims by the boss of John Laing that it has taken a financial hit on its farm here after assessing that the wind will blow less strongly than expected has perplexed other energy suppliers.

The infrastructure giant’s chief executive, Olivier Brousse, told analysts it is taking a multi-million writedown on a windfarm it owns at Glencarbry, Co Tipperary, and others in Germany because it estimates that the wind will blow less and generate less power over the next 10 to 15 years than it once anticipated.