GLOBAL OFFSHORE WIND SEES BOOM IN 2010

Study: Next Decade One of Progress for Global Offshore Wind Industry
18 December 2009 (Emerging Energy Research)

"Led by European utilities, the offshore wind industry is poised for substantial scaling over the next decade, with the global installed base expected to grow to nearly 45 GW in 2020 according to [Global Offshore Wind Energy Markets & Strategies: 2009-2020] from Emerging Energy Research. With large northern European utilities driving the industry forward in the short term, the stage is being set for North America and Asia offshore development as well…

"…[T]he global offshore market has been slow to take off due to cost and logistical challenges--climbing from 70 MW installed to 1.5 GW over the past eight years—[but] is now scaling thanks to…[investment] by Europe utilities…Asia and North America are currently looking to Europe for technology and cost benchmarking. Between 2010 and 2020, these two regions will contribute nearly 25% of the total new offshore capacity installed worldwide, according to EER."

click to enlarge

"In Europe, tapped-out onshore markets and higher capacity factors offshore are driving governments to incentivize the technology, providing key support to drive industrial build-out…led by the UK and followed by Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark…EER expects Asia to tap its offshore markets in 2014, led by China and Korea. In North America, test projects in the US (Deepwater Wind) and Canada (NaiKun) may come to fruition by 2012, with over 6 GW projected by 2020…

"Utilities [such as RWE, E.ON, DONG, Vattenfall, Scottish and Southern Energy, Statkraft, and Iberdrola] own 90% of the 20 GW of offshore projects in the pipeline in Europe, many of which are now moving to procure turbines and define engineering, procurement, and construction strategies for project execution. Northern Europe players, mainly German utilities, have the most aggressive expansion plans in terms of megawatts and geographic diversity of their pipelines…"

click to enlarge

"Europe’s offshore wind industry has rapidly evolved into a consolidated market mainly in the North Sea, with onshore competition moving offshore as utility players build portfolios…[U]tilities [are] working in tandem with other utilities and developers to assemble the technical skills, financing, and power experience needed for project execution…[as the market reaches the] maturity to handle the sets of technical, construction, and interface risks…

"European players’ moves along the value chain are setting the tone for longer-term global competition, with each [larger and more costly] project providing essential expertise for the industry to improve… In addition to utilities, independent power producers, pure play developers, EPC contractors, and specialized service and equipment providers are getting active in offshore…To reduce installation costs and maximize power output, utilities are seeking bankable, larger turbines to maximize economies of scale. Europe’s trend toward 5 MW turbines for 200 MW and larger projects moving further offshore will provide key references for near-term projects in Canada, the US, China, and Korea…"