[The Vector] Global Offshore Wind Sector Expanding Rapidly
![[The Vector] Global Offshore Wind Sector Expanding Rapidly](https://www.2greenenergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/capewindchart.jpg)
The global offshore wind turbine market is expected to almost double this year after record growth last year, according to a report published in October by Danish consulting company MAKE. MAKE predicts the expansion will continue into 2015.
The decade-long struggle to approve and construct Cape Wind, the United States’ first offshore wind farm, looks to be reaching a successful conclusion. At the end of November, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities approved a 15-year power purchase agreement for National Grid to purchase Cape Wind’s power and RECs. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has promised to fast-track future offshore wind projects in the same way that he has fast-tracked solar energy projects on public lands.
But just as the US makes small beginnings in offshore wind development, onshore developments seem to have fallen off a cliff. SNL Energy estimates that the power generation capacity of onshore wind energy projects in the first three quarters of 2010 was 64% down on the capacity that came online in the first three quarters of 2009.
In 2009 the global offshore market added 620MW of capacity – an 80% increase over 2008.That took the global installed base to just over 2GW. During 2010 that base is expected to double to 4GW. Most of the installations will be off the coasts of Northern Europe. While the majority of today’s wind generation is onshore, offshore wind is expected to account for around 20% of European wind power installation by 2015, according to MAKE.
The 300MW Thanet wind farm off the South East coast of England is the world’s largest. But it will be superseded with the completion of the 1,000 MW London Array wind farm in the Thames Estuary. Phase 1 of the London Array will power the London Olympics in 2012.
“The offshore market is expected to grow by a compound annual growth rate of 43% between 2010 and 2015 and account for approximately 8% of the global wind power market in 2015,” MAKE said. Britain and Germany will be the dominant players in Europe over the next few years. In Asia, China followed by South Korea will construct most wind turbines.
US Sees the Potential
The United States and Canada are the countries with the most advanced plans for offshore wind development in the Americas. While only three offshore projects were announced by the US during the first three quarters of 2010, they include the Michigan Offshore Project. At 500 MW it will be amongst the largest wind farms in the US.
And Secretary of the Interior Salazar is certainly optimistic about the potential for offshore wind power. Associated Press reported his comments during the launch of his ‘Smart from the Start’ permitting initiative, designed to speed up offshore developments:
“The Cape Wind lease is an historic milestone in America’s renewable energy future, but to fully harness the economic and energy benefits of our nation’s vast Atlantic wind potential we need to implement a smart permitting process that is efficient, thorough and unburdened by needless red tape,” he said.
“The wind potential off the Atlantic coast is staggering,” according to Salazar. “With the right investments and the right planning, Atlantic wind can help power major cities … creating tens of thousands of manufacturing and engineering jobs in the process.”
Onshore Development Takes a Dip
The economic downturn and low natural gas prices have created a dip after years of strong growth in the US onshore wind market. Data published by SNL Energy and the American Wind Energy Association revealed that wind installations in the third quarter of 2010 dropped to their lowest level of any quarter since early 2007. AWEA believes that uncertainty about the direction of US energy policy was a contributing factor. An imminent deadline for government support will result in growth once more during the end of 2010 and the start of 2011. But it will not return to 2009 levels in that time.
According to SNL Energy, 2,180 MW of wind capacity from 1,308 turbines came online in the first three quarters of 2010. During the 2009 period 6,125 MW from 3,393 turbines came online. Twenty states had installed more than 1 MW of wind turbine capacity by the end of Q3 2010, compared to 24 states in the 2009 period. At a time when ever-larger turbines are being developed by the technology providers, the average size of turbine coming online in the US dropped from 1.81 MW to 1.67 MW.
Illinois broke the general trend, adding 716 MW from 427 turbines, compared to just 201 MW installed in the first three quarters of 2009. Only three states installed more wind power during the 2010 period compared to the 2009 period. The capacity brought online in Texas plummeted by 84% from 1.88 GW to 305 MW. Oregon nearly halved the capacity it brought online from 638 MW in the first three quarters of 2009, down to 337 MW in the 2010 period.
However, a further 4 GW of wind farm construction projects have been initiated during 2010 to meet the deadline for the US Treasury’s cash grant program.
In future, it looks as if wind farm developments will become larger. To date, only two wind farms with capacities greater than 500 MW have been developed. However, plans for a further 9 wind farms greater than 500 MW have been announced during 2010. The largest of these will be 600 MW projects in Texas and Kansas and a 550 MW project (to be built in two phases) in Southern California.
