U.S. offshore areas hold enormous potential for wind energy development near the nation’s highest areas of electricity demand – coastal metropolitan centers, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said.

“More than three-fourths of the nation’s electricity demand comes from coastal states and the wind potential off the coasts of the lower 48 states actually exceeds our entire U.S. electricity demand,” Salazar told a group working to lower America’s carbon emissions.

“The realities of climate change are upon us,” Salazar said. “For too long we have ignored the true costs of our energy use. Building America’s clean energy future is front and center on President Obama’s agenda. He knows that if we are to turn our economy around; that if we are to lead the next great technological transformation in our world; and that if we are to create millions of new clean-energy jobs here at home, we must finally take the moon-shot on energy independence.”

Department of the Interior, which manages one-fifth of the nation’s land mass and 1.7 billion acres of ocean off the U.S. coasts, will have a major role in creating the nation’s clean-energy future, Salazar said. The Department’s Bureau of Land Management has identified about 20.6 million acres of public land with wind energy potential in the 11 western states and 29.5 million acres with solar energy potential in the six southwestern states. There are also over 140 million acres of public land in the western states and Alaska with geothermal resource potential.

There is also significant wind and wave potential in U.S. offshore waters. The National Renewable Energy Lab has identified more than 1,000 gigawatts of wind potential off the Atlantic coast, and more than 900 gigawatts of wind potential off the Pacific Coast. The Lab estimates that the class 5 wind potential off the coasts of the lower 48 states exceeds the entire U.S. electricity demand. Currently, there are more than 2,000 megawatts of offshore wind projects proposed in the United States.

“We are opening our doors not just to oil and gas and coal, but also to the wise development of solar, wind and wave, biofuels, geothermal, and small hydro on America’s lands,” Salazar said.

Source: www.doi.gov
Images: rodonnelly

As the onshore market continues to grow in certain regions and move slowly towards saturation in others, offshore wind is expected to form a greater part of the pie from the meager 2% that it is now. Onshore wind will always occupy a major share of the wind energy market. However, Frost & Sullivan expects offshore wind to grow from an insignificant part of the pie to a more substantial contributor of electricity generated from wind by 2020. According to Frost & Sullivan estimates, installed capacity of offshore wind is expected to grow from 1,276 MW in 2008 to 18,769 MW by 2015.

100 Turbines off Kent in the North Shore

The UK government has been blamed for its renewable energy policies not having enough teeth to encourage companies to invest in the UK whether it be onshore or offshore or project development or manufacturing. However, with the increase in the number of Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) from 1.5 ROCs/Wh to 2 ROCs/MWh outlined in the budget in April the UK government gave a huge boost to the offshore wind energy industry.

World's first large-scale floating wind turbine off Norway

The green light for the 1GW offshore wind farm in the UK, the world’s biggest wind farm project, is the beginning of new and important developments of projects in this market. Frost & Sullivan’s Industry Analyst Gouri Kumar believes that “after a string of bad news in the industry, this is a significant change that will provide a stimulus to investors in the UK as well as in the rest of Europe. And this is especially important in consideration of the current economic climate.”

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Large Wind Turbines: Design and Economics In the light of the extensive debate surrounding the economics of scale of wind turbines, this timely work examines the engineering implications of developing lightweight compliant designs. Through the development of a unique modeling approach, the authors quantify the weight and cost of a diverse range of design solutions, enabling systematic quantitative comparisons to be made for the first time.

DUBLIN, Ireland – Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c88388) has announced the addition of Offshore Wind Power Market Potential to their offering.

Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into useful forms, such as electricity, using wind turbines. In windmills, wind energy is directly used to crush grain or to pump water. At the end of 2007, worldwide capacity of wind-powered generators was 94.1 gigawatts. Although wind currently produces just over 1% of worldwide electricity use, it accounts for approximately 19% of electricity production in Denmark, 9% in Spain and Portugal, and 6% in Germany and the Republic of Ireland (2007 data). Globally, wind power generation increased more than fivefold between 2000 and 2007.

The deployment of offshore wind power can be considered to have happened in two phases to date. The first phase involved a series of small demonstration projects generally constructed in sheltered shallow waters from 1995 to 2000. The second phase was for projects, which still had a demonstration role, but which were of an increasingly commercial nature and were developed in more technically demanding situations between 2000 and 2004. In the year 2000, seven mostly small-scale demonstration projects were operational. By 2004, the industry had developed 15 projects many of them large-scale and fully commercial.

The estimated cost of offshore wind energy varies widely depending on the project, but some studies indicate that offshore projects cost significantly more than land-based turbine systems. Much of the premium that is now being paid for offshore systems can be attributed to higher costs for foundations, installation, operation and maintenance.

As wind turbines are adapted for offshore, the process of achieving favourable economics depends less on reducing wind turbine costs and more on a full system life cycle cost approach.

The report on Offshore Wind Energy is a complete analysis of the global offshore wind energy industry, with special focus on the United States and Europe, the leaders in offshore wind energy developments today. The report analyzes the technology, barriers to the development of offshore wind energy, regulatory framework, country-wide market analysis, and a profile of the major industry players.

Companies Mentioned:
Cielo Wind Power
Enercon
FPL Energy
Gamesa Eolica
GE Energy
PPM Energy
Renewable Energy Systems
Shell Renewables
Suzlon Energy
Siemens
Vestas Wind Systems

The 1st Edition of Offshore Wind Power report is a 75-page overview of how and why offshore wind power is set to become a major contributor to global power production.

Wind power has been the fastest growing industry in the world over the last decade and most wind energy is produced onshore. However, a number of challenges have arisen that make continued onshore wind power deployment more difficult. This has opened the door for offshore wind power development. Offshore wind turbines take advantage of wind speeds which are more constant and stronger than those on land. Larger turbines are used, which translates into greater energy production. Since many large load centers are located near coasts, turbines can be installed closer to load, decreasing transmission losses and reducing congestion. The placement of turbines over-the-horizon and undersea transmission lines eliminate many of the aesthetic concerns that are common with onshore turbines.

Offshore Wind Power aims to provide the reader with an understanding of the market potential for offshore wind, the challenges that must be overcome in deploying this technology, and current development of offshore wind projects.

Topics covered in the report include:

-Overview of wind power including its modern history

-Discussion of how offshore differs from onshore wind power

-Analysis of the development of offshore wind power

-Evaluation of the market potential for offshore wind power

-Description of offshore wind power technology including differences with onshore technology and developments needed to improve offshore technology

-Analysis of the economics of offshore wind power including a comparison to onshore costs

-Evaluation of the challenges to implementing offshore wind power

-Description of the permitting process for offshore wind in both the U.S. and Europe

-Description of economic incentives available for offshore wind in both the U.S. and Europe

-Profiles of major offshore wind projects in commercial operation or under development

-Profiles of major offshore wind project developers and turbine manufacturers

For more information, visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c84526

Speaking to the European energy industry in Berlin, Mr Hutton launched a Strategic Environmental Assessment of the seas surrounding the UK, paving the way for a possible ‘third round’ of wind energy development and beyond:

“The draft plan I’m setting out today could allow companies to develop up to 25 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2020, in addition to the 8 gigawatts already planned.

“This potential major expansion will be subject to the outcome of a Strategic Environmental Assessment. But if we could manage to achieve this, by 2020 enough electricity could be generated off our shores to power the equivalent of all of the UK’s homes. This could be a major contribution towards meeting the EU’s target of 20% of energy from renewable sources by 2020.

“The challenge for Government and for industry is to turn this potential – for our energy and economy – into a cost-effective reality. This will be a major challenge.

“The UK has some of the best offshore wind resource in the world, a long history of design, installation and operational expertise in the offshore environment and the skills and manufacturing capability to transfer to this exciting new sector.

“The UK is now the number one location for investment in offshore wind in the world and next year we will overtake Denmark as the country with the most offshore wind capacity. I want to ensure the UK remains one of the best places for renewable business.

“Our trajectory on renewables is beyond question. They are as central to our future low carbon economy as chimneys were to the industrial revolution and road building following the invention of the mass produced car.”

The ‘first round’ of offshore wind farms, in 2001, comprised a number of small demonstration projects. The ’second round’, in 2003, resulted in the award of options for leases for larger scale projects in three designated areas – the Thames Estuary, the Greater Wash and the North West. Based on current plans under the first and second leasing rounds, about 8GW of capacity could be operational by around 2014. This includes the 1GW London Array which is the largest planned offshore wind farm in the world.

The proposal for a possible ‘third round’, and further regular rounds, of offshore wind development announced today would open up the vast bulk of the UK’s continental shelf to large scale development. It would allow for up to a further 25GW of offshore capacity on top of the planned 8GW. In total this could generate enough power for up to 25 million homes by 2020.

Mr Hutton announced that he will chair an enhanced Renewable Advisory Board with a bigger remit to advise the Government on the EU 2020 renewable energy target, and a wider pool of expertise to help deal with the issues and opportunities across renewable energy.

The Government is also working on a regulatory regime to ensure that all offshore projects can connect to our onshore electricity transmission and distribution networks, quickly, securely and as cheaply as possible. A response to the recent consultation will be published by BERR shortly.

These developments sit alongside plans in the Energy Bill, to be introduced shortly, to ‘band’ the support provided by the Renewables Obligation to give greater support to offshore wind, wave and tidal energy. This will incentivise the expansion envisaged by today’s proposals.

The amount of electricity from renewable sources of all kinds in the UK has doubled to almost 5% since the introduction of the Renewables Obligation in 2002. Current forecasts will see a further tripling to around 15% by 2015. Plans are also under way for a feasibility study into the potential for electricity generation from the Severn Estuary.

At the Spring European Council the EU agreed a target of 20% of all energy from renewables by 2020. This includes fuel for electricity, heat and transport. The Commission is due to propose how that target should be apportioned between Member States in January.