aquaculture

Options Trader: Friday Outlook

Amusing. Are you the standup comedian in the options trading pit, or the clown at the cocktail party? You sure are dressed for it.
But before you go crush the tulips at your hostess, be honest, did too many of you guys short (RDS.A) before earnings and then got hammered when it upped 5 %? Or was it simply Dutch-bashing-week in Washington and Newyork simultaneously? But wait! Weren't the Dutch the ones who invented the stockmarket in the first place?

You also seem to like lots of windmills. Welcome to the alt. energy section.
But let me ask you a question: have you ever climbed a 300 foot steel pole to do a lube job on a gearbox? Of course not. Shell would find & pay a guy do to it, right? But would the guy do it at night, in the freezing English climate? Sure, more pay.
Investment costs indeed ran up to 2.5 $/peak-watt, due to commodity prices, risk aversion in the credit markets etc. At that price they might as well have tried to sell the Londoners solar panels, avoiding the whole transmission losses and maintenance issues. Delays were mainly due to shortage of offshore equipment, turbine & component manufacturing supply issues. The study of offshore windpower has no doubt been valuable to Shell.
Shell "plans to focus on windpower in the U.S." where "government incentives offered Shell competitive returns". Of course your stats of 16818 MW runs at an annual cost (PTC, green credits) to U.S tax payers >3300 mln $. Is that why the IRS is hunting for money?

As for foxy analogies, the turbine quality ratio GE: GAMESA: VESTAS: SIEMENS: EWT (direct-drive) ---directwind.nl---is about as follows: 1972 Plymouth: a Seat (before VW bought it): a 1980's Saab: a 1990's BMW: a 2010 GM volt.
According to Emergya's board member none of the 750 kW and .9 MW directwind machines need government subsidies. 10 MW machines are on the table. Thank Goodness.
Time to party, lol.