European Offshore Wind
As I write this note, the third European Offshore Wind (EOW) event (organised by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA)) has just taken place. The venue was Stockholm, and the event took place alongside the annual Swedish wind conference, VIND2009. The event was a great success, with more than 4,000 participants attending. There were 300 presentations, 23 sessions and 260 exhibitors offering a range of services and solutions in the fast-expanding offshore wind market.
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{access view=!registered}Only logged in users can view the full text of the article.{/access}{access view=registered}Over 100GW of offshore wind projects are currently being planned in Europe. This 100GW will supply 10% of Europe’s electricity. The EU Energy Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, said at the opening session of the conference that ‘the European Commission is committed to doing everything it can to support offshore wind developers and make sure their planned projects come to fruition’.
During the conference EWEA launched its new Offshore Reportwith its Declaration of Support for offshore wind energy. EWEA’s declaration commits the industry to deliver and calls upon EU institutions, regulators and TSOs to take the urgent actions that are needed to fully exploit this huge opportunity.
Pan European Grid
A 20-year plan for the development of European offshore wind power was presented to governments and EU officials by the EWEA. It provides a comprehensive approach to constructing a transnational offshore power grid. Building on the 11 grids already in place, and the 21 being studied by grid operators in the North and Baltic Seas, EWEA proposes eight additional offshore grids by 2020 and six more by 2030. The year 2010 is a key year for planning Europe's future electricity grid, which needs extensive upgrading, as the European Commission is due to publish a blueprint for a North Sea Grid at the same time as European electricity network operators are due to publish a 10-year plan for developing a truly European grid. Such a grid will be essential for a single European energy market and should allow renewable energies to be harnessed while improving the security of supply.
Exhibition
The exhibitors indicated that they were already confident about the future by showing support for new developments, especially in offshore sites. Many construction and consultancy companies, originally working for the oil and gas industry, were present at the show. Innovations in specialised fields as diverse as ships, cranes and even foundations were shown. The floating concept is also getting more attention from the industry, but although I like the concept I suspect it will take at least 10 years for it to be deployed at large-scale. In future issues we will keep you informed about the new concepts we saw in Stockholm.
In two years’ time the European Offshore Wind event will take place in Amsterdam from 29 November until 2 December. I am sure that when we meet there we will be able to look back on two years of enormous development in the industry and we will be looking forward to even more progress; so book your places now.
Enjoy reading,
Floris Siteur
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