The Future of Offshore Wind Power Generation

Introduction

Offshore wind power is one of the newest major sources of renewable electricity generation to be developed and also one of the most interesting. Its history is short, no more than 20 years, and yet over that period the technology has been able to establish itself as both viable and potentially profitable.

Features and benefits

• Realize up to date competitive intelligence through a comprehensive review of offshore wind power generation technologies concepts.
• Assess the emerging trends in offshore wind power generation technologies.
• Identify which key trends will offer the greatest growth potential and learn which technology trends are likely to allow greater market impact.
• Compare how manufacturers are developing offshore wind power generation technologies.
• Quantify costs of offshore wind power generation technologies, with comparisons against forms of power, installation costs, and cost of electricity.

Highlights

• In Europe, by the middle of 2011, there were 1,247 offshore wind turbines across nine countries, 49 wind farms with an aggregate capacity of 3,294MW. Based on satellite data, offshore wind energy could provide up to 15% of global energy demand.
• Today most wind farms are built in water depths or around 25m or less and few exceed 50m. Regions of highest wind energy can potentially provide between 500W/m2 and 800W/m2.
• Overall unconstrained wind energy potential in Europe including both onshore and offshore was 70,000TWh, more than 20 times the expected energy demand in 2020. Of this, 25,000TWh was is offshore.

Table Of Contents

Dr Paul Breeze
Disclaimer

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
An introduction to offshore wind power generation
The offshore wind resource
Offshore wind technology
Getting the power ashore
Environmental, legislative and political issues
The cost of offshore wind power
The future of offshore wind power
An introduction to offshore wind power
Summary
An introduction to offshore wind power
Offshore wind history
The structure of the report
The offshore wind resource
Summary
Global offshore potential
Regional offshore wind potential
Offshore wind technology
Summary
Introduction
Typical offshore wind turbine
Turbine size
Turbine development
Drive trains and nacelles
Towers
Foundations and underwater structures
Alternative floating wind turbine options
Array issues
Construction infrastructure development
Reliability and condition monitoring
The supply chain
Offshore wind costs
Getting the power ashore
Summary
The grid problem
The farm-by-farm solution
Financing offshore transmission links
Offshore grids
Supergrids
The shape of the North Sea supergrid
Supergrid components and technical requirements
Extension of the North Sea supergrid
Environmental, legislative and political issues
Summary
The environmental impact of offshore wind farms
Construction and sea bed effects
Human impact
Impact on marine and other animal life
Shipping and fishing
Health and safety issues
Financial support for offshore wind farm construction
Offshore wind farm regulatory issues
The offshore grid: funding and regulatory issues
The cost of offshore wind power
Summary
Capital cost breakdown
Capital costs
The levelized cost of electricity
Supergrid costs
The future of offshore wind power
Summary
Introduction
The capital cost of power generation technologies
Levelized cost comparisons
Offshore wind capacity growth potential
The future of offshore wind power
Appendix
Bibliography/References

LIST OF TABLES

Table: Annual offshore wind capacity (MW), 2011
Table: European offshore wind potential (TWh), 2009
Table: European offshore wind potential by country, 2011
Table: US offshore wind energy potential (GW), 2011
Table: US offshore wind potential by region and sea depth (GW), 2009
Table: China, offshore wind potential (TWh/y), 2010
Table: Japanese offshore wind potential (GW), 2010
Table: Average wind turbine size, including onshore and offshore, by year (kW), 2011
Table: Average size of offshore wind turbines, by year (kW), 2011
Table: Current and future offshore wind turbine parameters, 2011
Table: Advanced turbine developments, 2011
Table: Types of offshore foundation and platform, 2011
Table: Offshore wind turbine manufacturers, 2011
Table: Lifetime cost breakdown for typical offshore wind project (%), 2011
Table: Offshore wind farm connection technologies, 2011
Table: Cost allocation schemes for offshore wind transmission, 2011
Table: Driving force for North Sea offshore grid, 2011
Table: Supernodes for first phase of European supergrid (GW), 2011
Table: Interconnections for first phase of European Supergrid (GW), 2011
Table: Offshore wind environmental considerations, 2011
Table: Support mechanisms for offshore wind energy, 2011
Table: Models for supergrid financing, 2011
Table: Cost breakdown for offshore wind projects (%), 2011
Table: UK offshore wind farm capital costs, 2011
Table: Predicted UK offshore wind farm capital costs to 2030 (round 3 projects), 2011
Table: Predicted UK offshore wind farm operating costs to 2030 (round 3 projects) (£/kW), 2011
Table: Estimated capital cost for offshore wind in the US, 2011
Table: Estimated current and future levelized costs of electricity for UK offshore wind farms (£MWh), 2011
Table: Cost of energy from US offshore wind farms, 2011
Table: Capital cost projections for renewable technologies in the UK (£/kW), 2011
Table: Predicted capital cost for US generating technologies ($/kW), 2011
Table: Comparative cost of renewable power generation in the UK(£/MWh), 2011
Table: Comparative cost of renewable power generation in the UK (£/MWh), 2017
Table: Comparative levelized cost of electricity in the UK 2010 – 2023 (£/MWh)
Table: Comparative levelized cost of electricity in the US in 2016 ($/MWh)
Table: Variation in the levelized cost of offshore wind for plants entering service in 2015 ($/MWh)
Table: UK offshore wind development rounds, 2011
Table: Predicted UK and EU offshore wind capacity (GW), 2011
Table: Current offshore wind capacity and capacity under construction (MW), 2011
Table: Planned offshore wind capacity (MW), 2011

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure: Annual offshore wind capacity (MW), 2011
Figure: European offshore wind potential (TWh), 2009
Figure: Europe, estimated wind resource size by country (TWh/y), 2011
Figure: Europe, estimated wind resource size by country (MW), 2011
Figure: US offshore wind energy potential (GW), 2011
Figure: US offshore wind potential by region and sea depth (GW), 2009
Figure: China, offshore wind potential (TWh/y), 2010
Figure: Japanese offshore wind potential (GW), 2010
Figure: Average wind turbine size, including onshore and offshore, by year (kW), 2011
Figure: Average wind turbine size, including onshore and offshore, by year (kW), 2011
Figure: Lifetime cost breakdown for typical offshore wind project (%), 2011
Figure: Supernodes for first phase of European supergrid (GW), 2011
Figure: Interconnections for first phase of European Supergrid (GW), 2011
Figure: Cost breakdown for offshore wind projects (%), 2011
Figure: Predicted UK offshore wind farm capital costs to 2030 (round 3 projects), 2011
Figure: Predicted UK offshore wind farm operating costs to 2030 (round 3 projects) (£/kW), 2011
Figure: Estimated current and future levelized costs of electricity for UK offshore wind farms (£MWh), 2011
Figure: Cost of energy from US offshore wind farms, 2011
Figure: Capital cost projections for renewable technologies in the UK (£/kW), 2011
Figure: Predicted capital cost for US generating technologies ($/kW), 2011
Figure: Comparative cost of renewable power generation in the UK(£/MWh), 2011
Figure: Comparative cost of renewable power generation in the UK (£/MWh), 2017
Figure: Comparative levelized cost of electricity in the UK 2010 – 2023 (£/MWh)
Figure: Comparative levelized cost of electricity in the US in 2016 ($/MWh)
Figure: Variation in the levelized cost of offshore wind for plants entering service in 2015 ($/MWh)
Figure: Predicted UK and EU offshore wind capacity (GW), 2011
Figure: Current offshore wind capacity and capacity under construction (MW), 2011
Figure: Planned offshore wind capacity (MW), 2011