Wind News

Tuesday 19 January 2010

Currently, 17 offshore wind farms, totalling more than 3,500MW, are under construction in Europe

European offshore wind generating capacity increased by 54% in 2009, the European Wind Energy Association claimed yesterday (January 18).

The trade association's newest publication, "The European offshore wind industry: key trends and statistics, " stated that eight new wind farms, consisting of 199 offshore wind turbines and with a combined capacity of 577MW, were connected to the grid in 2009.

The European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) said that this represented a growth rate of 54% compared to the 373MW installed during 2008.

And, it added that in 2010 it expects the completion of 10 additional European offshore wind farms, adding a further 1,000MW.

Currently, 17 offshore wind farms are under construction in Europe, totalling more than 3,500MW, with just under half being constructed off the UK.

In addition, a further 52 offshore wind farms, representing more than 16,000MW, have won full consent in European waters.

More than 100GW of projects are at various stages of planning and could provide enough power to meet 10% of European electricity demand.

Those wind farms that are built are getting larger - the average offshore wind farm size in 2009 was 72MW, up from 62MW the previous year, while the average turbine size was 2.9MW.

Christian Kjaer, EWEA chief executive, said that despite the increases, independent project developers were struggling and needed government and EU support.

"This is an incredibly good result considering the continued difficulties of obtaining project finance for large projects," he said.

But he added: "For the offshore wind power industry to continue its development, it is vital that governments and the European Commission provide policy frameworks that stimulate investor interest and allow project developers to move their plans forward."

Finance

In financial terms, the EWEA calculated that the 2009 turnover of the offshore wind industry was approximately €1.5 billion (£1.3 billion). It expects this to double in 2010 to approximately €3 billion (£2.6 billion), with European companies "well-placed" to take advantage of opportunities in North America and Asia.

But the move to wind farms further offshore and the difficulty in raising project capital meant that government support would remain vital for the development of the offshore wind industry.

The European Commission's Recovery Plan, which put €255 million (£225 billion) of a €565 million (£498 million) into six offshore wind farms was said to provide "a crucial injection", while the EWEA said the continued involvement of the European Investment Bank (EIB) was equally critical.

Further "significant steps" towards a European ‘supergrid', including nine countries signing up to investigate the possibility in the North Sea (see this NewEnergyFocus.com story) and another €300 million the EIB put towards a similar project to connect Britain and The Netherlands (see this NewEnergyFocus.com story) were also welcomed.

Christrian Kjaer said that the decision to inject €255 million into the offshore wind sector showed that decision makers "understand that offshore wind is key to Europe's future energy supplies".

"The European Investment Bank's increased involvement will also be instrumental for the future success of offshore wind's contribution to European recovery, job creation and technology leadership," he added.