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

By: The Green Jobs Source for Friday, January 20, 2012 « Blue Green Alliance Blog

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:51:16 +0000

[…] to Cleantechnica, completion of offshore wind projects in the European Union’s pipeline will increase the EU’s […]

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:40:00 +0000

*EWEA

By: Akbweb2

Akbweb2 — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 05:03:00 +0000

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.

By: Akbweb2

Akbweb2 — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:58:00 +0000

Noted and corrected. Thx.

By: Akbweb2

Akbweb2 — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:58:00 +0000

Noted and corrected, thx.

By: Akbweb2

Akbweb2 — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:56:00 +0000

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…

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:02:00 +0000

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

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:58:00 +0000

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?

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:56:00 +0000

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!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:04:00 +0000

“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?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:33:00 +0000

The headline has the wrong number: 883 MW should be 866.

By: Ross

Ross — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:46:00 +0000

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