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Offshore wind to grow 35 fold
 Offshore wind generating capacity around in Europe is set to increase by a factor of 35 in the next few figures.
Wind farm capacity is set to increase from 4 Gigawatts of installed capacity today to over 141 GW, according to the European Wind Energy Association, based on a survey of built, consented and planned capacity and wind farm projects already undergoing construction.
Signalling the high level of investment going into the sector, the EWEA president Arthouros Zervos declared today: “There is a huge developer interest in offshore wind energy across Europe: Developers, governments and investors realise that offshore wind energy offers the growth and jobs that Europe desperately needs.”
Europe's currently installed wind farm generating capacity of just under 4 GW is said to be sufficient to power 130 million average households within the EU. Zervos was speaking at the start of the EWEA's Offshore 2011 conference and exhibition now taking place in Amsterdam until the beginning of December.
Based on a survey of current wind projects, the EWEA says up to 5.6 GW of wind farm capacity is being built offshore Britain, Belgium and Germany alone. And European-based companies are responsible for 99% of the global wind farm capacity installed so far, underlining the lead that European companies have in the sector, the EWEA says.
Growth areas within the wind industry include turbine manufacturing and turbine components, while development of substructures, vessels, plus electrical infrastructure, and high voltage subsea cabling all offer scope for expansion the EWEA suggests. High voltage cabling is identified as a particular market where a capacity constraint has been identified and which needs to be issued urgently, the association says, while suitably trained personnel are also in demand.
The statements are drawn from a new EWEA report on the wind energy sector, called “Wind in our Sails” which looks at all existing offshore wind power projects in the 17 European Union states, which are mostly in north-western Europe.
Zervos added: “The offshore wind energy sector can replicate the success of the onshore wind technology development, which is now a mainstream source of power competitive with new coal and gas plants, and a major European industry,” he said, but he continued: “To ensure this happens, EU decision-makers need to set ambitious renewable energy targets beyond 2020, invest more in research and develop offshore grids.”
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