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THE Offshore Wind Thread (merged)

Discussions of conventional and alternative energy production technologies.

DOE announces New Investments in U.S. Offshore Wind Projects

Unread postby Graeme » Wed 12 Dec 2012, 18:19:24

Energy Department Announces New Investments in Pioneering U.S. Offshore Wind Projects

Underscoring the Obama Administration's all-of-the-above strategy to develop more secure domestic energy sources and strengthen American competitiveness in the global market, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced seven offshore wind awards for projects in Maine, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, and Virginia. As part of the Energy Department's broader efforts to launch an offshore wind industry in the United States, these engineering, design, and deployment projects will support innovative offshore installations in state and federal waters for commercial operation by 2017.

"The United States has tremendous untapped clean energy resources, and it is important for us to develop technologies that will allow us to utilize those resources in ways that are economically viable," said U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu. "Today's announcement of awards to the first offshore wind projects in the U.S. paves the way to a cleaner, more sustainable and more diverse domestic energy portfolio that develops every source of American energy."

Offshore wind represents a large, untapped energy resource for the United States—offering over 4,000 gigawatts of clean, domestic electricity potential, four times the nation's current total generation capacity. According to a new report commissioned by the Energy Department, a U.S. offshore wind industry that takes advantage of this abundant domestic resource could support up to 200,000 manufacturing, construction, operation, and supply chain jobs across the country and drive over $70 billion in annual investments by 2030. Offshore wind represents an economic and energy opportunity that could mirror the success of land-based wind development.


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Re: DOE announces New Investments in U.S. Offshore Wind Proj

Unread postby Graeme » Wed 12 Dec 2012, 18:46:25

Mods, This thread could be merged with Offshore Wind Thread. Sorry I didn't see it.

$4 Million “Superwire” Could Blow The Offshore Wind Power Market Wide Open

Researchers at the University of Houston have just won a new round of funding for a $4 million wind power project that is on track to solve a key wind energy transportation conundrum: how to use superconducting wire without running afoul of the magnetic field generated by wind turbines. The new grant of $900,000 from the Department of Energy comes on top of two earlier DOE grants totaling $3.1 million. If the project is a success, it will lead to the commercial production of low-cost superconducting wire for wind turbine generators, and that will open up the field for low-cost wind power, especially offshore wind turbines.



So far, the three-year project has far outpaced expectations. The end goal is to achieve a 400% performance improvement in superconducting wire, with an interim goal of 50% by the end of 2012.

The team beat the interim goal by a wide margin, achieving a 65% gain by the end of September.

The pace of progress was apparently so promising that ARPA-E, the advanced energy research agency that administers the grant, accelerated the grant disbursement ahead of schedule.


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Re: THE Offshore Wind Thread (merged)

Unread postby Graeme » Sun 29 Jun 2014, 19:39:29

World's Most Powerful Wind Turbine

Wind turbine manufacturer Vestas has just released its V164 8-megawatt turbine for offshore use, the most powerful wind turbine in the world. The first V164 was recently installed at the Danish National Test Centre for Large Wind Turbines, where it will undergo extensive field testing and performance evaluation.


The V164 was designed to minimize the amount of maintenance required and to make servicing as safe and simple as possible. Turbine efficiency tends to increase with size, and more powerful turbines minimize the number of towers, reducing installation and maintenance costs. Both factors allow wind farms to get the most power for the money. The V164 is built to last at least 25 years in the harsh environment of the North Sea. And when it reaches the end of its life, 80% of the turbine’s material can be recycled.


Spanning a diameter of 164 meters, the rotor sweeps an area the size of three football fields. Its low cut-in speed of 4 m/s allows it to generate power even on calm days, although it’s designed for optimal wind speeds of 12 - 25 m/s (27 - 56 mph). The V164’s 8 MW output means that each turbine can provide enough power for about 7500 homes. A wind farm with 200 of these turbines equals the production of a typical nuclear power plant, and if there’s an earthquake or other natural disaster, the turbines won’t leak radiation into the atmosphere.


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Re: THE Offshore Wind Thread (merged)

Unread postby Graeme » Wed 02 Jul 2014, 18:05:18

Obama Administration Inches Toward Guaranteeing $150 Million Loan For Nation’s First Offshore Wind Farm

The Cape Wind project faced a dozen opposers in court over the years, but it has never been closer to reality.

The U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday announced the first step toward issuing a $150 million loan guarantee to help Cape Wind begin constructing the nation’s first offshore wind farm as early as next year. The commercial-scale operation would create a capacity of 360 megawatts of energy off the coast of Cape Cod, MA.

The DOE is deeming the announcement as a “conditional commitment” with a promise to monitor the project’s development before closing the loan guarantee. The DOE would join a slew of public and private lenders helping bring the $2.6 billion farm to light.


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Re: THE Offshore Wind Thread (merged)

Unread postby Graeme » Fri 04 Jul 2014, 20:14:12

Honeycomb 'Wind Lens' Turbines Could Boost Energy Generation 3X

Forget about traditional tri-blade wind turbines — the ultra-efficient turbine of the future might look completely different if Kyushu University professor Yuji Ohya has anything to say about it. Ohya and his team recently unveiled the Wind Lens, a honeycomb-like structure that purportedly triples the amount of wind energy that can be produced by offshore turbines.


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Recent developments in offshore wind Japan

Two other floating trials are worthy of mention, though they are extremely speculative in nature. First is the Wind Lens floater developed by Kyushu University. A scale model with two 3kW shrouded turbines was launched in December 2011 for a one-year trial. A larger model is under development. The Modec Skwid, a wind and current hybrid design using a vertical-axis turbine, was due to start testing last October, but a vital component sank at sea during the installation.
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Re: THE Offshore Wind Thread (merged)

Unread postby Graeme » Mon 07 Jul 2014, 17:57:23

Floating Wind Turbines Float Into US Waters (Finally!)

The US has been lagging badly while other countries spring ahead with offshore wind farms, but it when it comes to the niche sector of floating wind turbines we’re right up there with the front-runners. That’s according to a recent article The Guardian, which mentioned a US floating wind turbine demonstration project at Coos Bay off the Oregon coast in the course of an article on Portugal’s cutting edge floating wind turbine experiments.

We touched on that Coos Bay project earlier this year, so now would be a good time to take a closer look.

Regarding that thing about the US lagging globally, the east coast of the US is actually starting to rev up its considerable shallow-water offshore wind power potential.

A multistate east coast offshore wind consortium to coordinate the effort got under way in 2010, and a jump-up-and-down milestone just occurred last week when the Energy Department gave its conditional blessing to a $150 million loan guarantee for the massive Cape Wind offshore wind farm in Massachusetts. A Rhode Island offshore wind farm is also set for completion in 2016.

The west coast of the US is a different story. The Continental Shelf drops off steeply, leaving little room for shallow-water offshore turbines anchored on conventional platforms in the ocean floor.

The solution is to float platforms for wind turbines in deep water and tether them in place. While that sounds simple enough, when you consider the massive scale of wind turbines and the rough-and-tumble of deepwater conditions, engineering a durable, cost-effective platform is a huge challenge.

However, there is a juicy payoff in the form of more powerful, steady winds.

The Guardian’s floating wind turbine article also credits a knowledge base of engineering for deep water drilling operations, which has helped to accelerate the development of floating wind turbines.


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Re: THE Offshore Wind Thread (merged)

Unread postby Graeme » Sat 12 Jul 2014, 19:32:48

US Must Act Now on Offshore Wind to Advance Industry, Revitalize Communities

The U.S. Atlantic coast is a hotbed of offshore wind potential with more than 16,000 MW already designated for development. In order for projects to become reality, state and local governments need to take action, according to a new report from the National Wildlife Federation (NWF).

As Cape Wind enters its final stretch with a crucial $150 million US Department of Energy loan guarantee after years of fighting roadblocks, and with the Block Island Wind Farm right on its heels, state governments and big companies are finally starting to take the U.S. offshore wind industry seriously. Several offshore wind leases that took place off the coasts of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Virginia have also helped move the industry forward.

In Virginia, Dominion Virginia Power was declared the winner with a $1.6 million bid for 112,000 acres. The area has the potential to create more than 2 GW of wind power capacity. Deepwater Wind, which is already developing the Block Island project, won two parcels of land off the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts amounting to 164,000 acres and a 3.4-GW potential. Now that permits and leases of more than 1.5 million acres of prime land have been distributed, NWF says its time for political leaders to catch up.

Not only is offshore wind a clean, renewable resource that can help reduce carbon per Obama’s recently announced emissions reduction plan, it can replace power from fossil-fueled power plants that are set to close in the area, such as Brayton Point in Massachusetts, scheduled to shutter in 2017. While these factors may be enough for some, the benefit that has really caught the attention of some local politicians can truly transform entire communities is jobs.

In releasing its new report, NWF traveled to New Bedford, a coastal city in Southeastern Massachusetts. With a thriving fishing industry and ideal port location, New Bedford is looking to revitalize its depressed community by becoming an offshore wind distribution hub.


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Re: THE Offshore Wind Thread (merged)

Unread postby ROCKMAN » Sat 12 Jul 2014, 23:04:32

"...state governments and big companies are finally starting to take the U.S. offshore wind industry seriously. Several offshore wind leases that took place off the coasts of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Virginia have also helped move the industry forward." Well, it's nice to see other states starting to catch up with Texas:

The initial offshore Texas wind leases were granted almost 10 years ago. The General Land Office worked aggressively to develop wind power off the Texas coast. For Texas, renewable energy on state lands means renewable revenue for public education. The state's oldest agency has already racked up a series of firsts for the nation, including the first and largest lease for offshore wind power development. The Land Office - always eager to earn money for the state's Permanent School Fund - even held the nation's first competitive bidding process for offshore wind power leases. The multi-million dollar lease, signed with Galveston-Offshore Wind constructed two meteorological towers. In 2008, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved construction by Coastal Point Energy of the offshore meteorological towers at the site of the company's planned Galveston Wind Project. The company has since used the tower to gather over 30 months of wind data, which confirmed the site's "superior" profile for wind power generation,The towers gathered pertinent data for permanent placement of wind turbines on the 11,355 acre lease approximately 7 miles off the coast of Galveston, Texas. Coastal wind power has come to the United States and found a home in Texas. Once completed, the offshore wind farm will produce enough electricity to provide power to about 40,000 homes. By comparison, an equal amount of electricity would require about 20.7 million barrels of oil, or 6.5 tons of coal to produce. By not burning these fossil fuels to create this amount of energy, the wind farm will displace approximately 2.7 million tons of carbon dioxide each year.

And why has the process moved more smoothly along the Texas coast then in New England? Coastal Point holds leases from the state General Land Office for 85,422 acres at five sites, which the company hopes to develop into a total of 2,100 MW. In addition to the 300 MWs planned for Galveston, the company also envisions: the 300 MW Jefferson Wind Project; 500 MW Brazoria Wind Project; 500 MW Corpus Christi Wind Project; and 500 MW Brownsville Wind Project. If Coastal Point Energy is the first to cross the symbolic 'first-in-the-water' mark, the company may have a peculiar quirk of history to thank. When the short-lived Republic of Texas entered the Union in 1845, the state retained claim to all public lands within it's territories, including control of marine territory extending to 10.3 miles offshore, rather than the typical nautical miles standard for all other states. Like oil and gas development, offshore wind projects within 10.3 miles of Texas shores therefore face a streamlined permitting process dealing primarily with energy-friendly state regulators. Texas projects need not secure permits from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement. Thus Coastal Point Energy and other Texas wind developers can avoid the thicket of federal permitting processes that took the much-publicized Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound a full decade to navigate. And there's another great advantage over offshore New England projects: the vast majority of Texas coastal residents support the projects. And being done with some help from our European cousins: Gulf Offshore Wind: The Baryonyx Corporation, run by veterans of Europe’s wind energy industry, will build an 18-megawatt pilot project four to five miles off Texas’ Port Isabel in the Gulf of Mexico, with five 6-megawatt turbines: the Rio Grande Project. The Baryonyx Corporation also has development leases from the Texas General Land Office for a 2,000-megawatt to 2,400-megawatt project five to ten miles off Texas’ South Padre Island.

Not such a smooth road elsewhere: Great Lakes, Atlantic Projects Also Advancing, but Federal Policy Uncertainty Plagues Development:

Several offshore wind projects are also pressing forward in the Great Lakes and Atlantic Coast regions, although most must navigate a tricky course through state and federal permitting, tricky project financing, and an uncertain future for national renewable energy policy. After more than a decade, the Massachusetts Cape Wind project, long billed as "America's first offshore wind farm," finally secured all necessary federal permits in January and was cleared in April by U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to begin construction. But the project has only secured a power purchase agreement for half of its planned 468 MW of output, and still must arrange financing for the $2 billion project. Energy Management Inc., the company behind Cape Wind, had hoped to finance 80% of the project with a help from a Department of Energy loan guarantee program for innovative energy technologies. Those plans were thrown into disarray in May when DOE notified Cape Wind that its application would not be completed by September 30th, the end of the federal fiscal year. Cape Wind's application is therefore among hundreds of others 'on hold' until uncertainty over the fate of the loan guarantee program's budget is resolved. As a part of the budget deal to prevent a government shutdown, Congressional lawmakers agreed to eliminate most new funding for the two DOE loan guarantee programs designed to help renewable and other advanced energy projects secure financing. Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee released a fiscal year 2012 budget proposal on June 1st that would virtually eliminate the two loan guarantee programs. The proposed budget would provide just $160 million of the $1.06 billion requested by the Obama Administration. The Cape Wind developers will now have to turn to a more traditional -- and costly -- project finance route, securing a mix of financing from commercial banks, foreign export credit agencies, and bond markets. Barclays Capital, the project's financial adviser, is already seeking equity investment partners.

Federal budget uncertainty may have also derailed a Delaware project that once appeared poised to contend with Cape Wind to be the first in Atlantic waters. NRG Bluewater Wind, which plans a 200 MW wind farm located 13 miles off the Delaware coast, announced on May 30th that it would delay construction of a meteorological tower at the project site, blaming the uncertain federal policy environment for renewable energy development. The budget troubles plaguing the DOE loan guarantee programs as well as continued uncertainty about the long-term fate of the federal production tax credit for wind energy, has injected considerable uncertainty into the financing for and viability of all U.S. offshore wind projects. Bluewater has a 25-year power purchase contract with Delmarva Power, provided it begins producing power by 2016.

The long-term prospects of offshore wind energy development could be boosted by the Atlantic Wind Connection, a $6 billion plan to build a high-voltage, long-distance transmission 'backbone' linking offshore mid-Atlantic wind farms stretching from Virginia to New Jersey. The project, led by Trans-Elect Development Corp. and Atlantic Grid Development and financially backed by Google, Good Energies, and Marubeni Corp., plans to bury high-voltage direct-current cables 22 miles off the coast, linking wind farms with 6,000-7,000 megawatts of capacity. Power would come ashore at four coastal intertie locations, providing access to the power markets serving the major population centers of the mid-Atlantic corridor, from Washington DC to New York City. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently approved an above-market 12.59 percent rate of return on equity as an incentive to buoy development of the Atlantic Wind Connection, although the project is just beginning the long process of securing federal permits, performing environmental assessments, and winning approval from the PJM Interconnection, the mid-Atlantic regional grid operator.
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Re: THE Offshore Wind Thread (merged)

Unread postby Graeme » Tue 15 Jul 2014, 19:06:28

RECORD-BREAKING OFFSHORE WIND DEAL HELPS DRIVE UP CLEAN ENERGY INVESTMENT IN Q2

The stand-out deal of the quarter was the $3.8bn financing of the 600MW Gemini offshore wind farm in the North Sea, off the coast of the Netherlands, the largest investment decision ever in renewable energy (excluding large hydro-electric). Signed in May, the transaction involved the developer ‒ Canada’s Northland Power ‒ plus three other equity investor groups, 12 European, Canadian and Japanese commercial banks, the European Investment Bank, a Danish pension fund and three export-credit agencies.


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Re: THE Offshore Wind Thread (merged)

Unread postby Graeme » Thu 17 Jul 2014, 20:39:02

Offshore wind to bring $3.4 billion to British economy

The British government said Wednesday it signed off on plans to build the 700 megawatt Rampion wind farm off the coast of Sussex.

German utility company E.ON is leading development of the offshore installation that should be completed by 2019. The British government said it expects the project to bring in more than $3.4 billion worth of investments to its economy.

Signing off on the project Wednesday, the British government said the Rampion wind farm would generate enough energy to meet the annual needs of 450,000 households.

The government said the consent decision is a testament to its commitment to renewable energy resources.

"We're driving investment in our energy security, and our plans have made us number one in the world for investment in offshore wind energy," British Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey said in a statement.


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Re: THE Offshore Wind Thread (merged)

Unread postby Graeme » Wed 06 Aug 2014, 21:37:59

Embryonic No More: U.S. Offshore Wind Industry Gaining Momentum

At long last, the U.S. offshore wind industry is showing real progress toward putting steel in the water. The offshore sector is progressing not only with key projects like Cape Wind and the Block Island wind farm, but also more broadly as the federal government provides new grants and works with coastal states to offer large leases for future offshore development.

As of the end of July, the developer behind the 468 MW Cape Wind project had secured close to two-thirds of the approximately $2.5 billion needed for the wind farm, to be located off the coast of Cape Cod, Mass. In addition, the developer sold more than 77% of the projected output (363 MW) through stable, 15-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) at $0.187/kWh plus inflation.

Deepwater Wind’s more modest 30 MW wind plant, located off the Rhode Island coast, has its entire output secured with a 15-year PPA at $0.244/kWh. It also has preliminary contracts for turbines from Alstom and an installation vessel from Fred Olsen Windcarrier, and continues to move through final regulatory hurdles, including receiving state approvals for its transmission system.

Construction of both projects is planned to commence in 2015.


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Re: THE Offshore Wind Thread (merged)

Unread postby Graeme » Wed 13 Aug 2014, 20:56:16

Wind power to supersede all others

In an era of high energy costs, developments in wind technology have made wind energy among the most affordable and desirable forms of renewable energy. In fact, Global Industry Analysts, Inc. (GIA) expects cumulative capacity of wind power to more than double by 2020.

Small wind turbines are being increasingly deployed for powering homes, offices and small businesses and GIA predicts offshore wind farms to outpace land-based wind turbine production by 2015.

Asia-Pacific represents the largest market, thanks to increasing electricity demand and rapid industrialization, according to GIA -- while Denmark, Portugal, Germany, Ireland and Spain represent other major countries in the world with high wind electricity penetration rates.

Wind will supersede other forms of alternative energy, GIA anticipates, because of benefits like zero pollution levels; no depletion of natural resources; inexpensive installation costs; a less than three-month gestation period; reduced dependence on fossil fuels; ubiquitous availability of wind; and low power cost.


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Re: THE Offshore Wind Thread (merged)

Unread postby Graeme » Fri 15 Aug 2014, 18:56:08

Energy giants team up to cut offshore wind costs

Eight major energy companies have teamed up in a bid to improve performance in operating and maintaining offshore wind farms.

E.ON, EDF Energy Renewables, Centrica, SSE, ScottishPower Renewables, DONG Energy, Vatenfall and RWE have joined the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult to find areas where they can collaborate and share knowledge to ultimately drive down industry costs.

These include blade erosion and cable damage, both of which are issues that have affected most offshore operations in UK waters.

Chris Hill, the ORE Catapult’s Innovation Programmes Director said: “If we are going to capitalise on the economic opportunity presented by a strong offshore supply chain, then we need to develop a collective view on what the key technology challenges are and where the industry should be focusing its combined efforts on developing innovative solutions to drive cost reductions.”


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Re: THE Offshore Wind Thread (merged)

Unread postby Graeme » Sun 17 Aug 2014, 17:37:40

Interior Dept Blows Off Koch Stranglehold On Offshore Wind Power

The good news for US Atlantic coast offshore wind power just keeps rolling along. Earlier this year, renewable energy fans in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New Jersey got to see some progress despite Koch (and Koch-related) obstacles in the path of commercial offshore wind power development. Now it’s North Carolina’s turn. While state governor Pat McCrory has become notorious for his ties to the Koch anti-renewable lobbying efforts, the Interior Department has gone ahead and designated a total of 307,590 acres off the coast of North Carolina for potential offshore wind energy development.

Interior’s latest offshore wind energy announcement came through the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management last week, and it’s yet another piece of evidence that the powerful Koch lobbying machine in North Carolina (and elsewhere, for that matter) could be headed for a mighty fall.


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Re: THE Offshore Wind Thread (merged)

Unread postby Graeme » Wed 20 Aug 2014, 21:47:55

Third US Offshore Wind Lease Auction Goes to Italy-based US Wind

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) held its third auction of offshore wind leases yesterday, this time for prime U.S. federal waters off the coast of Maryland. Italian renewable energy company US Wind Inc. won the 80,000-acre parcel with an $8.7 million bid, well above previous auctions.

The area of interest was separated into two parcels, a North and South lease area located about 10 miles off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland. If fully developed, this land has the potential to support up to 1,450 MW of offshore wind capacity.


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Re: THE Offshore Wind Thread (merged)

Unread postby Graeme » Fri 22 Aug 2014, 17:45:23

Breakthrough in HVDC power cable technology

Technology that doubles the power flow of high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cables could make it cheaper to integrate offshore wind farms into the grid.
Swiss engineering group ABB has developed a system that allows HVDC cable to transmit up to 2.6GW of power – enough energy to power two million homes, or serve the electricity needs of Paris.

The new 525kV cable system offers a 64 percent increase over previous 320kV systems – currently the highest voltage deployed for this type of technology – and it will also expand the cable's reach to distances of 1,500km up from less than 1,000km, all while keeping transmission losses under 5 per cent.

The technology uses a new cross-linked polyethylene insulation material and can be deployed underground or beneath the sea making easier it to transmit electricity through densely-populated or environmentally-protected area, potentially reducing the need for unsightly overhead power lines, according to Claes Rytoft, ABB's chief technology officer.


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Re: THE Offshore Wind Thread (merged)

Unread postby Graeme » Tue 02 Sep 2014, 19:04:38

China plans offshore rethink

China's National Energy Administration (NEA) is to join forces with the other government departments to revamp the country's offshore wind policy.

The NEA is to work together with government departments such as the State Oceanic Administration (SOA), the Ministry of Transport and other divisions of the State Development & Reform Commission. The SEA has the power to block offshore wind developments and has done so in Jiangsu province (Windpower Offshore 1 June 2012).

A national offshore wind development plan (2014-2016) has also been released. The document lists 44 offshore projects totalling about 10.3GW in capacity.The projects are distributed among seven coastal provinces and the Tianjin municipality.

Jiangsu province was awarded the largest share of around 3.19GW with 14 projects. The coastal provinces of Liaoning, Shandong and the Shanghai municipality, which hosts the country's first offshore demonstration wind farm, are not included in the list.

The offshore projects on the list break down into nine (1.75GW) that have NEA approval, and 35 that are at the preliminary stage. In all this is 8.53GW. The NEA said all projects listed in the plan would be treated as approved.


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Re: THE Offshore Wind Thread (merged)

Unread postby Graeme » Wed 03 Sep 2014, 18:37:39

New Reports Highlight Major Potential in Offshore Wind Energy

The Energy Department today announced a new report showing steady progress for the U.S. offshore wind energy industry over the past year. The report highlights 14 projects in advanced stages of development, together representing nearly 4,900 megawatts (MW) of potential offshore wind energy capacity for the United States. Further, this year’s report highlights global trends toward building offshore turbines in deeper waters using larger, more efficient turbines that increase the amount of electricity delivered to consumers.

This year’s Offshore Wind Market and Economic Analysis, produced by Navigant Consulting for the Energy Department, found that there is significant potential to increase U.S. electricity capacity and create jobs through the further development of the U.S. offshore wind industry, and it also outlines policy developments that are influencing the offshore wind market.


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Re: THE Offshore Wind Thread (merged)

Unread postby Graeme » Fri 05 Sep 2014, 20:20:34

United Kingdom Leading Offshore Wind Power Market

The United Kingdom exists as one of the most likely locations on planet Earth to build up a strong offshore wind power industry, and according to new data from analysts GlobalData, that’s exactly what the UK has done, with 52% of the global cumulative installed capacity share.

On top of that, GlobalData predicts that the UK will increase its installations from 3.7 GW in 2013 to 11 GW in 2020, keeping it the leading offshore wind power market.

The United Kingdom grew its offshore wind power capacity from just over 0.3 GW in 2006 to its current level of 3.7 GW, thanks to what GlobalData describe as “aggressive renewable targets, policy backing and a shift towards a greener climate.”

“The UK’s growing concerns over climate change and the security of its energy system will provide sufficient impetus for the country’s offshore wind industry to continue its growth trajectory,” said Swati Singh, GlobalData’s Analyst covering Power. “The last decade has seen offshore wind progress from an immature to a proven technology, which is expected to contribute significantly to the achievement of the UK’s renewable targets.”


The report, ‘Offshore Wind Turbines and Foundations – Global Market Size, Market Share, Regulations and Key Country Analysis to 2020‘, analysed the global offshore wind turbine and foundations market, as well as specific offshore wind markets in the UK, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, China, South Korea, and the US.


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Re: THE Offshore Wind Thread (merged)

Unread postby Graeme » Sun 07 Sep 2014, 20:24:12

America's Energy Future Is Offshore -- And It Has Nothing to Do With Oil

America's energy future is offshore -- but it's got nothing to do with oil. New technological developments, as well as a bigger than ever helping hand from Uncle Sam, have tipped the scales for offshore wind. With mind-blowing potential for this infant industry, let's see where the future lies.

Wind 101
Onshore wind energy has taken off in recent years. From 2009 to 2013, wind energy accounted for nearly one-third of all new generating capacity installed. Today, the equivalent of 15.5 million American homes are powered by wind.

But onshore wind capacity pales in comparison to its offshore counterpart. In total, there are 4,150,000 megawatts of wind whipping around America's coasts. To put that in perspective, the entire electricity capacity of the United States clocked in just over 1,000,000 MW in 2011 (the most recent available data) -- roughly 25% of offshore wind's potential.


Image

While offshore poses technical and logistical hurdles, location is actually a positive for this power source. Fifty-three percent of all Americans live along the coastline, where "energy costs and demands are high and land-based renewable energy resources are often limited," according to the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

Making offshore wind work
Electricity generation is capital-intensive and highly competitive. To help offshore wind find its sea legs, the Department of Energy has doled out more than $300 million in awards for 72 different projects. While most of this research will remain onshore and in laboratory settings, the DOE has awarded over $50 million for Dominion Energy's (NYSE: D ) initiatives to build two six-megawatt wind turbines around 30 miles off Virginia's coast.


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