OMA Planning North Sea “Energy Super Ring” of Wind Farms
Rem Koolhaas’ Office for Metropolitan Architecture announced a plan earlier this week to build a massive offshore wind farm in the North Sea. If completed, the ring of wind parks could generate 13,400 TWh of energy and help lead to European energy independence by 2050.
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OMA’s Zeekracht (sea power) master plan describes an “energy super ring” around the Netherlands that connects windmills in seven adjacent countries. The center of the ring will feature an international institute for renewable energy.
Since large scale fishing is impossible near wind parks, fish and sea life will be guaranteed shelter in what is essentially a vast nature reserve.
At this point, OMA’s plan is just that: a plan. The idea of building turbines far from the coast is one that has not been fully explored, so Zeekracht still has a long way to go before becoming a reality. But massive plans are necessary for massive goals, and support from the Netherlands’ Society for Nature and Environment as well as surrounding countries gives Zeekracht plenty of credibility.
Photo Credit: Zeekracht
This is a great idea. I’ve heard the idea of a big solar park in the Sahara, and Europe will buy energy from that. Bad idea for two reasons:
1. Long transmission lines, a lot of electricity loss
2. Energy is not on their land, its in poor lands open to terrorist attacks and other country’s whims.
With how many wind turbines it would take to power Europe, I don’t fear terrorists attacking them….the power is too distributed, blowing up 5 or 6 will have a negligible impact. I am still interested in how they would provide security, though.