The offshore wind industry is on track to set its seventh consecutive annual growth record this year, with the UK leading by a very wide margin.
According to the Earth Policy Institute (EPI), developers added 1,080megawatts (just over one gigawatt) of generating capacity in the first half of the year, growing the world’s offshore wind generation capacity by 20%.
If the pace is sustained then 2013 could see offshore capacity leap 40%.
To date, 15 countries host some 6.5GW of offshore wind capacity. Before the year is out, the world total should exceed 71GW according to Earth Policy.
The UK’s lead is massive with more than half of total installed capacity; Denmark comes second, then Belgium, China, Germany and Holland.
Although tiny compared with the some 300GW of land-based wind power, offshore wind is now surging forward.
It was in 1991 that Denmark installed the world’s first offshore wind farm, a 5MW project in the Baltic Sea, since when growth has been uneven. However, since 2008, this modest North Sea state’s offshore wind capacity has more than tripled, topping 1.2MW mid-year.
Driving capacity increase for the Danes this year is the 400MW Anholt project.
Denmark gets more than 30% of its electricity from wind—onshore and offshore—and aims to increase that share to 50% by 2020, putting it neck-a-neck with Scotland.
However, the leader … Britain … has more than 3.4GW of offshore turbine capacity of which over 500MW was installed during the first six months of this year with more to go.
According to the EPI, there’s already enough capacity to keep the lights on in 2million homes,
That is set to take a further leap as, according to the EPI, the UK has 12GW of offshore wind capacity under construction or in earlier development stages. However, some projects are currently struggling for finance.
Turning to Belgium and Germany, their capacities are closely matched.
Belgium’s offshore wind capacity grew 20% to 450MW during H1 2013.
Germany reached 380MW and is expected to have at least 520MW by year-end. The German offshore industry expects another 1GW will be installed and commissioned next hear and 2015.
China is ploughing ahead rapidly since the first offshore windfarm was commissioned in 2010. The tally is now past 390MW. The target is 5GW by 2015 and 30GW by 2020, almost certainly placing it in first place.
EPI notes that floating turbines “may actually be a big part of future offshore wind development” at the global level.
“Not only do they greatly expand the area available for wind farms, they also have the potential to dramatically reduce the cost of offshore wind generation, which today is more than twice as expensive as that from turbines on land,” says the institute.
“While offshore wind manufacturers have managed to achieve cost reductions for the turbines themselves—through lighter, stronger materials and increased efficiency, for example—these savings have thus far been offset by the rising cost of installing and maintaining turbines fixed to the seabed as projects move into deeper waters.
“The renewable energy consultancy GL Garrad Hassan notes that working around harsh weather becomes much easier with floating turbines: when conditions are favorable, relatively cheap tugboats can bring a turbine to the project site for quick installation, avoiding the need for specialized installation vessels. “
The turbine can be floated back to shore when the time comes for maintenance, lowering both cost and risk.”
The UK has already been left behind, as reported in the just published November edition of The Press and Journal supplement Energy.
Recommended for you
