“The global offshore wind energy industry’s entry into the next decade will be marked by concrete progress built on the past 10 years of moving along the learning curve,” says EER Senior Wind Analyst, Eduard Sala de Vedruna. “While the global offshore market has been slow to take off due to cost and logistical challenges--climbing from 70 MW installed to 1.5 GW over the past eight years--the industry is now scaling thanks to increased focus on offshore by Europe utilities,” says Sala de Vedruna.
EER estimates in its recently published Global Offshore Wind Energy Markets and Strategies: 2009-2020 report that large northern European utilities such as such as RWE, E.ON, DONG, Vattenfall, Scottish and Southern Energy and Statkraft will drive the industry forward in the short term, with Asia and North America looking to Europe for technology and cost benchmarking. “Offshore is still very much a European industry led by the UK and followed by Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark,” explains Sala de Vedruna.
Meanwhile, EER expects Asia and North America to contribute nearly 25% of the total new offshore capacity installed worldwide between 2010 and 2020.
Despite the positive outlook, EER warns that the road ahead is still challenging, with offshore projects still being more costly than their smaller land-based cousins. “Offshore projects still present major challenges throughout the process, from permitting to construction and technology available, requiring more skilled players to manage the projects and contingencies,” warns Sala de Vedruna.
To reduce installation costs and maximize power output, utilities are seeking bankable, larger turbines to maximize economies of scale. Europe’s trend toward 5 MW turbines for 200 MW and larger projects moving further offshore will provide key references for near-term projects in Canada, the US, China, and Korea. The recent launch of larger turbines, the increasing size of projects, and the industry’s ability to scale the supply chain with vessel, cabling, and foundation installation capacity are fundamental to project execution, says EER.
EER’s new study, comprised of 211 pages and 100 exhibits, analyses offshore market growth in Europe, North America and Asia and is available for downloading here:
Global Offshore Wind Energy Markets and Strategies: 2009-2020
