EU Offshore Wind Energy Pipeline Projects Will Boost Capacity 62%; 866 MW of New Capacity in 2011

January 19th, 2012 by Andrew

Newly installed offshore wind energy capacity in the European Union totaled 866 megawatts (MW) of clean, grid-connected electricity in 2011, lower, but roughly in-line with, 2010’s total of 866 MW, the European Wind Energy Association reported today with the release of its annual industry statistical review. Worth approximately 2.4 billion euros (~$3.05 billion), 235 new wind turbines were installed in 2011 across nine offshore wind farms.

“Despite the economy-wide financial squeeze, 2011 saw a 40 per cent increase on the previous year in offshore non-recourse debt financing, up from 1.46 billion Euros in 2010 to 2.05 billion Euros in 2011,” EWEA policy director Justin Wilkes stated in an EWEA press release.

40,000 MW of Offshore Wind by 2020

The EWEA is working to reach a target of 40,000 MW of installed offshore wind capacity across the EU by 2020. That would supply about 4% of total electricity consumption across the 27-nation group.

Though offshore wind’s growing fast in the EU, that’s a hugely ambitious target. A total of 1371 offshore wind turbines across 53 grid-connected offshore wind farms in 10 European countries now mean a total generating capacity of 3813 MW. Another nine offshore wind farms are under construction at present, which will bring an additional 2375 MW online. Completion of these projects will increase the EU’s total offshore wind energy capacity by 62%.

EU agencies have, and continue to look closely at offshore wind’s potential. The EWEA notes that the EC, in its 2008 Communication on offshore wind energy, stated that “offshore wind can and must make a substantial contribution to meeting the EU’s energy policy objectives through a very significant increase – in the order of 30-40 times by 2020 and 100 times by 2030 – in installed capacity compared to today.”

“The EEA estimates the technical potential of offshore wind in 2020 at 25,000 TWh, between six and seven times greater than projected electricity demand, rising to 30,000 TWh in 2030, seven times greater than projected electricity demand.”

Source: Clean Technica (http://s.tt/15iUB)

“The strong project pipeline and financial developments highlight the importance of countries continuing to provide and develop stable long-term frameworks for offshore wind power in order to allow the industry to continue its development,” Wilkes added.

A large majority of the EU’s 2011 grid-connected offshore wind turbines–87%–were set down in British waters. Siemens dominated the market, supplying 80% of offshore wind turbines, by capacity. The UK’s SSE and Denmark’s DONG Energy were again the most active equity investors in the sector.

A full copy of the report on EWEA’s website.

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Tags: 2011 EU offshore wind, dong energy, EU offshore wind capacity, EU wind energy policy, EWEA, EWEA 2011 offshore wind report, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Siemens, SSE, wind energy finance

About the Author

Andrew I've been reporting and writing on a wide range of topics at the nexus of economics, technology, ecology/environment and society for some five years now. Whether in Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Americas, Africa or the Middle East, issues related to these broad topical areas pose tremendous opportunities, as well as challenges, and define the quality of our lives, as well as our relationship to the natural environment.

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Anonymous

“The EWEA is working to reach a target of 40,000-MW of installed offshore wind capacity across the EU by 2020.”

That would be a 10-fold increase in 8 years. Does anyone think this is likely?
- http://cleantechnica.com/ Zachary Shahan
  
  Thanks. Submit your editing bill at the end of the month.
  
  Truthfully, though, greatly appreciate the editor’s eye & comments. Hopefully, will give you less work soon!
- http://cleantechnica.com/ Zachary Shahan
  
  I think offshore wind is still a little.. up in the air. I think it could be hit. But a lot hinges on if companies can make the breakthroughs/improvements they are targeting. And, of course, policy.
  Last I read, Germany is looking to focus a lot more on offshore wind, no?
  - Anonymous
    
    I work for … well, news, I guess.
    
    It just seems too much, or too fast. Adding 36 GW by 2020 is more than 4 GW/yr — when they’ve yet to break 1 GW/yr. Or to figure it another way, ramping up more than 30% per year — which is easy to do when you start small, but becomes progressively harder as you get big.
    
    Yes, but,
    
    According to the [German] government’s plans, capacities are to be increased to 7,600 megawatts by 2020 — equivalent to the combined output of six or seven nuclear power plants. By 2030, the output is to be as much as 26,000 megawatts. However RWE’s managers warn that even the more modest target for 2020 could be “missed by miles.”
    
    http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,805505,00.html
    - Akbweb2
      
      Yes, no doubt a hugely ambitious target; and this is the EWEA, an industry association talking…
      
      And yes, the nature of percentage changes by definition mean that huge growth rate increases are harder to come by given a large base…At the end of the day, it’s the absolute number of installed capacity that matters…
      
      Here’s some additional info from the AWEA:
      
      – Through June 2011…11 offshore wind farms were under construction…Once completed, they will represent a total installed capacity of 2,844MW.
      
      Simply extrapolating – always a dubiious exercise – means roughly 5.6 more GW capacity in a year…to 2018 is 7 years would put them over the 40-GW target…
- Akbweb2
  
  Some more info from the AWEA, which is an industry trade body…
  
  – The European Commission anticipated, in its 2008 Communication on offshore wind energy (EC, 2008) that “offshore wind can and must make a substantial contribution to meeting the EU’s energy policy objectives through a very significant increase – in the order of 30-40 times by 2020 and 100 times by 2030 – in installed capacity compared to today.”
  
  Reaching 40 GW of offshore wind power capacity in the EU by 2020 is a challenging but manageable task.
  
  The EEA estimates the technical potential of offshore wind in 2020 at 25,000 TWh, between six and seven times greater than projected electricity demand, rising to 30,000 TWh in 2030, seven times greater than projected electricity demand.
  - http://cleantechnica.com/ Zachary Shahan
    
    *EWEA
Anonymous

The headline has the wrong number: 883 MW should be 866.
- Akbweb2
  
  Noted and corrected, thx.
Ross

It’s 27 countries in the EU and 17 in the eurozone. Most (87%) of it was installed in British waters.
- Akbweb2
  
  Noted and corrected. Thx.