Offshore Wind Energy<\/strong> has been foretasted from around 3 GW to 75 GW by 2020 as countries in Europe, Asia and North America heavily support this industry. Onshore wind energy growth on the other hand is expected to\u00a0 slow down as 38 GW of Wind Capacity were installed in 2010 with Western Markets showing a sharp slowdown. Offshore Wind is seeing\u00a0 increasing growth as Government heavily subsidizes and supports Offshore Wind Energy. Though the costs of offshore wind parks are much higher today, they will decrease as the installed offshore wind capacity increases from around 3 GW today to around 75 GW which is being foretasted globally by 2020.<\/p>\n Note every industry sees costs declining with large capacity except the mature industries. For example Wind Energy has seen a 10% decline in costs for every 100% increase in installed capacity. Note offshore wind projects offer even more Wind Energy Advantages<\/a> than normal Land Based Wind Farms. The only problem facing offshore wind power is high costs\u00a0 as the industry still is on the learning curve.However as companies gain experience and build capacity, the prices will be cut as costs come down and volumes increase. European Wind Companies are leading the pack as almost 80% of the current global capacity has been installed in Northern Europe. The opportunity is so large that South Korea shipbuilders<\/a> like Samsung, Daewoo and Hyundai\u00a0 are investing heavily in this area.<\/p>\n 1) Wind Turbines and Cost of Steel –<\/strong> Wind Turbines form the biggest cost component of a offshore wind farms. Wind Turbines make between 45-50% of the cost of a Wind Project. Note Wind Turbines are expected to go down in cost with improvement in technology and materials.Larger capacity turbines being deployed will decrease the costs further. Note Wind Turbines of 15 MW\u00a0 capacity (Gamesa<\/a>) are in development.<\/p>\n 2) Logistics and Foundation Costs –<\/strong> The logistics of transporting Wind Turbine components is much more expensive than transporting over land. Heavy vessels are needed which are not quite mainstream yet so the cost of using heavy cranes and vessels are quite high.F oundation costs are also higher as they have to withstand not only the weight of the huge Wind Turbines but also the pressure from the wave and tidal energies. Foundation costs can range between 15-25%.<\/p>\n 3) Electrical Infrastructure<\/strong> \u2013 The cables needed to transmit the electricity from the offshore wind turbines to the land based power grid\u00a0 also leads to higher costs. Note this adds up to the costs and contributed to around 20% of the cost of the offshore wind project. Recently Google and Green Energies<\/a> agreed to invest in a large transmission network near the eastern coast of the USA which would help in supporting wind farms being built there.<\/p>\n 4) Project Finance, Planning Costs <\/strong>– This makes up the rest of the costs. For\u00a0 some projects this can\u00a0 be very high compared to the 7-10% as can be seen from the Cape Wind project which is fighting numerous legal battlers for over 10 years.<\/p>\n The cost of an offshore wind park can range between $4.5-5.5 per MW which is much higher than land based wind at around $2 million per MW. However the load factors for offshore wind are higher so they compensate somewhat for the higher capital and operating costs for offshore wind energy. Note the PPAs being signed for offshore wind range fro 20-25c\/Kwh which is much higher than the 8-10c\/Kwh given for onshore wind energy.<\/p>\n 1) No Pollution<\/strong> and Global Warming Effects<\/strong> \u2013 Wind Turbines does not lead to pollution which is one of the biggest advantages of Wind Energy. Note there are costs associated with the equipment used to build and transport Wind Equipment but the running of Wind Energy leads to no pollution.<\/p>\n 2) Low Costs<\/strong> \u2013 The Costs of Wind Energy has reached the level of Gas powered Energy and can be generated at extremely low rates of around 7-8c\/KwH in favorable conditions.<\/p>\n 3) Big Industrial Base <\/strong>– Wind Energy has become a mainstream source of energy and a large industrial base already exists. This allows a rapid deployment of Wind Power in most places in the world. The number of Wind Turbine Producers is increasing with a number of Asian firms entering the industry.<\/p>\n 4) No Fuel Cost <\/strong>– Wind Energy does not require any fuel like most other sources of renewable energy. This is a huge advantage over other fossil fuels whose costs are increasing at a drastic\u00a0 rate every year. Electricity prices are increasingly rapidly in most parts of\u00a0 the world much faster than general inflation. Price shocks due to high fuel costs are a big risk with fossil fuel energy these days.<\/p>\n 1) No Noise Pollution <\/strong>– Wind Turbines emit a slight whirring noise which has led to problems with people living nearby. Some farmers have also complained that the livestock like sheep get affected by the moving of the Wind Blades. Offshore Wind Farms are located far off the coast cause no such noise problems for humans or wildlife.<\/p>\n 2) No Injuries to Birds<\/strong> \u2013 Older Wind Farms on Land frequently cause deaths and injuries to birds though newer wind turbines don\u2019t cause too much problems. Offshore Wind Farms do away with this problem entirely as they are located in the Ocean where birds don\u2019t fly frequently if at all. There is research being conducted to see if there is an impact on sea life by Cowries.<\/p>\n 3) No loss in scenery<\/strong> though near shore offshore wind farms have come into controversy because of this, the Cape Wind Project is attracting a lot of protests particularly from the Kennedy\u2019s who say that it will destroy the view from their house near the ocean.<\/p>\n Cost <\/strong> \u2013 This is\u00a0 the biggest disadvantage of offshore wind power over onshore wind energy. Note it can cost between 2.5-3.5 times more to generate electricity from offshore wind turbines than the wind farms built on land. There are a number of factors that determine the price such as wind speeds etc. However offshore wind industry is still in a novice state compared to the relatively mature level of the land based wind industry.<\/p>\n 1) Vestas \u2013 <\/strong>Vestas the largest Wind Turbine Company in the World has been facing one setback after another. Stiff competition from China, slowdown in Wind Energy Farms in the West and now Wind Blade Problems<\/a> have formed a perfect storm for this company. However the company is the leading supplier of Offshore Wind Turbines and recently introduced a 5 MW offshore wind turbine with leading offshore wind Danish developer Dong Energy.<\/p>\n 2)Siemens \u2013 <\/strong>The largest Green Company in the world, Siemens has a strong presence in the Wind Turbine Segment. Along with Vestas, Siemens has supplied more than 80% of the Offshore Wind Turbine to the European offshore wind market till date. Given its huge technological strengths in electrical equipment, power transmission and large project construction, Siemens is looking for a dominant role in the growing offshore wind market.<\/p>\n 3) Gamesa (Spain) <\/strong>– Gamesa the Spanish Wind Turbine Producer and Wind Farm Operator has faced the worst year of its history in 2010. Like Vestas<\/a> and Suzlon<\/a>, 2010 has been a cruel year for the Wind Industry in the Western Markets<\/a> and the WTG Players dependent on those markets. Gamesa is leading a massive Spanish Research Effort to develop a colossal 15 MW Turbine<\/a> meant for the fast growing offshore wind sector. But this is a long term plan with 2020 set as the target for the complete development of this new Turbine. The company has also tied up with Northrop Grumman to target the North American offshore wind market which has massive potential which is zero as of today.<\/p>\n 4) Suzlon Energy<\/a> i<\/strong>s the biggest Indian Wind Energy Company<\/a> by far with 4-5 Gigawatts of WTG Capacity per year. However Suzlon has languished in red ink since the beginning of the Global Financial Crisis in 2008. However things seem to be turning with a slew of orders particularly by Repower. Suzlon is looking to completely buy out its European Wind Turbine producer Repower. Repower Systems has won a contract from Belgian project development company C-Power to supply 48 turbines of the 6M type for the Thornton Bank offshore wind farm.T he turbines have a total rated power generating capacity of approximately 295MW. Note Suzlon is also targeting the Indian offshore wind market<\/a> which needs to install lots of wind energy to meet its RPS target of 15% by 2020.<\/p>\n Note other major wind turbine makers like Nordex, GE, Sinovel, Goldwind are also developing wind power equipment to target the growing offshore wind farm market.<\/p>\n Before we look at the major developers here is a very good interactive map of major global offshore wind farms from 4coffshore<\/a>. Note Europe is leading\u00a0 in offshore wind energy<\/a> so it is not a surprise that most of the big developers are giant European utilities.<\/p>\n USA<\/strong><\/p>\n First Wind Farm in the World was built at\u00a0 Vindeby in Denmark in 1991 with a capacity of around 5 MW<\/p>\n United Kingdom has the the largest offshore wind capacity in the world at around 1300 MW and is also home to the biggest offshore wind farm at Thanet.How much does an Offshore Wind Farm Cost and what is the Cost Breakdown<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Total Costs of a Offshore Wind Park<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Advantages of Offshore Wind Power
\n<\/strong><\/h1>\nAdvantages of Offshore Wind over Onshore Wind<\/h1>\n
Disadvantages of Offshore Wind over Onshore Wind<\/h1>\n
List of Top Offshore Turbine Companies<\/h1>\n
Offshore Wind Farm Developers<\/h1>\n
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Biggest Current and Future Offshore Wind Farms
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