[The Vector] Wind Energy — Tilting at the Leaders in Windmills

General Electric has shown its intent to become the leading player in offshore wind power. At the start of July GE signed an agreement with two Scandinavian energy companies to install and test four floating 4MW wind turbines off the coast of Norway. The rotors on the turbines will be 110 meters in diameter, and each turbine will be capable of generating power for 1,000 homes.

In all, GE has plans to invest approximately €340 million ($425 million) in offshore wind turbine manufacturing and service facilities in Norway, Sweden, Germany and the UK. More than $90 million of that funding is being invested in Norway on an Offshore Technology Development Center in Oslo and production of its turbine demonstration units.

GE is a global leader in the wind industry, with more than 14,000 wind turbines installed worldwide. Its wind energy business posted sales of more than $6 billion in 2009. But GE only recently entered the offshore market in a major way following its acquisition of the ScanWind unit of Sweden’s Morphic Technologies AB. The floating turbine partnership with Statoil of Norway and Lise of Sweden is the latest round in GE’s competitive bout with rivals Siemens and Vestas AS of Denmark. Siemens is installing around 10 of its gearless 3MW turbines both offshore and onshore this year. It plans to step up production of the 3MW turbines in 2011.

Breath-taking Development

Turbines on towers that are fixed to the sea bed are limited to areas where the sea depth is little more than 50 meters.While floating turbines face pretty harsh conditions, they operate in stronger winds with less intermittency and therefore their capacity rating increases. Out to sea there is also endless space available.

The speed of development in wind turbine technology and markets in the last five years has been breath-takingly rapid. With North Sea oil running out the Norwegian government realises that the end could be painless if the industry applies its offshore skills to wind power.

One major technological step forward has been the development of advanced drive train and control technologies that eliminaate the need for gearboxes. Gearless turbines have less moving parts with consequent cost and maintenance savings. That is particularly important when the turbines will be far out to sea.

Norway’s StatoilHydro is halfway through a two-year test of a 2.3MW floating turbine, the Hywind. The Hywind’s 65 meter tower sits above a 100 meter flotation device, anchored by long cables. The turbine has an 80 meter span.

Off Portugal, Principle Power Inc. is building a 150 MW floating wind farm for the utility Energias de Portugal.

While it is well behind Europe, the first American wind farm will soon come on-stream and there is immense political support along the East coast for the installation of more.

The next scale-up in wind power is already under way.  A 10MW turbine designed for a floating offshore platform is to be built and tested in Norway by Sway AS with $21 million funding from a Norwegian government agency. The Rotor diameter will be 145 meters in diameter. The turbine will be able to tilt between 5° and 8°, and the anchoring will include a suction system. Two other companies – Clipper Windpower and American Superconductor – have also declared plans for 10MW turbines.

Making Predictions from History

The speed of development in wind power may be leaving some commentators behind. On the day the 4MW floating turbine partnership deal was announced, Keith Kohl, editor of Energy & Capital launched an attack on wind power as a viable source of energy for the United States – using figures from 2007! (The year the first prototype floating wind turbine was launched off Italy).

“In 2007, wind made up just 5% of U.S. renewable energy consumption. And like it or not, all of our renewable energy sources combined amounted for a mere 7% of overall consumption,” he argued. “Fifty or sixty years down the road, you might have me convinced.”