The Future Of Global Offshore Wind Power: The Technology, Economics And Impact Of Wind Power Generation

Recent environmental awareness resulting particularly from the phenomenon of global warming has pushed renewable sources of energy towards the top of the power generation agenda. This has helped promote wind power as the most cost effective of the renewable technologies.

The Future of Global Wind Power: the technology, economics and impact of wind power generation is a management report that analyses the prospects for offshore wind power generation across Europe, North America, Japan and the rest of the world. It provides key data on the trends in wind power generation, to help you predict where and when opportunities in offshore wind power generation will occur. The report explains how to identify potential sites and use advances in technology ensure the most effective use of resources. It also details the environmental costs and benefits of offshore wind farms with reference to key stakeholders. These impacts are examined with reference to national, European and International regulatory frameworks. Forecasts to 2020 are included in respect of future capacity and changes in costs resulting from scale and technological advances.

Key issues addressed in this new management
- The operational and installation costs of wind power
- Legislative and regulatory constraints on wind power
- Environmental costs and benefits
- Geographical potential for offshore wind farms
- Future outlook for future offshore capacity and generation

The Future of Global Offshore Wind Power: the technology,
economics and impact of wind power generation is based upon
unique expert analysis and research, the results of which will explain:
- How much of the world’s power consumption could be catered for by offshore wind.
- The factors must be taken into account when planning an offshore wind farm.
- Differences between the scale and distribution of costs for offshore and land wind farms
- The drivers and resistors likely to affect future development of offshore wind power
- Growth opportunities for the future.
- Forecasts for market trends until 2020

The Answers to Your Questions
- What are the main advantages and disadvantages of offshore wind power and which factors need to be addressed during an environmental impact assessment?
- What are offshore wind power generation costs, and how do they compare to other fuels such as coal, oil, nuclear and gas?
- What wind speed is needed to make offshore wind farms economically viable and where can these conditions be found?
- What is the expected lifespan of an offshore wind turbine, how will this change in the future?
- How has installed capacity grown over the last three years and what is the forecast growth between now and 2020?
- What is the threshold of offshore wind power as a percentage of national generating capacity?

Global Analysis
The condtions for offshore wind farms vary in different parts of the globe. This report provides a closer look at the conditions under which offshore wind farms will thrive. Find out:
- National regulatory procedures relating to offshore wind power across the relevant EU states and the US.
- Why European renewable energy policy makes it the best region for immediate offshore wind development.
- The opportunities for wind power resulting from Renewable Portfolio Standards policy.
- How distance from shore, altitude, sea bed depth and maintenance schedules affect site potential and efficiency.
- Where are the geographical growth areas for offshore wind power.
- How to find the best wind speeds and hence maximise your potential generation and revenue.

The Value Proposition
Benefit from over 100 pages of expert insight and analysis, enabling you to:
- Understand the regulatory and legislative constraints on development of offshore sites.
- Identify where wind speeds are suitable and if access to transmission grids will allow cost effective development.
- Anticipate the environmental impact of installations and save significant time and money.
- Exploit existing technology and resources from the oil and gas industries.
- Develop the most cost effective construction and maintenance strategies.
- Predict changes in costs and revenues and associated profits.

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Table of Contents

The Future of Global Offshore Wind Power
Executive Summary 10
Introduction 10
Offshore wind potential and site identification 10
Legislative and regulatory issues affecting offshore wind energy 11
Offshore wind technology 11
The environmental effects of offshore wind 12
The economics of offshore wind generation 13
The outlook for offshore wind 13

Chapter 1 An introduction to wind energy

and offshore wind generation 17
Summary 17
Report structure 18
Introduction 18
Background 20
Capacity development 22

Chapter 2 Offshore wind potential and site identification 25

Summary 25
Introduction 26
Wind speed and energy output 27
Estimating wind speeds 29
Regional wind energy potential 30
Europe 31
North America 34
Japan 35
The rest of the World 36

Chapter 3 Legislative and regulatory issues affecting offshore wind energy 39

Summary 39
Introduction 40
International law 41
European law 43
The Environmental Impact Assessment Directive (1985) 43
European water policy 44
The Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds (1979); The Directive on
the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora (1992) 44
National policies 45
Belgium 45
Denmark 45
Germany 46
Finland 46
France 46
Ireland 47
Italy 47
The Netherlands 48
Poland 48
Sweden 48
United Kingdom 49
US 49

Chapter 4 Offshore wind technology 53

Summary 53
Introduction 54
Wind turbine design 55
Offshore turbines 56
Turbine generating capacity 58
Wind turbine components 60
Rotors 60
Blades 62
Drive train and generator 63
Towers 64
Marinization 66
Support structures 66
Monopiles 67
Gravity base structures 68
Tripods 69
Suction bucket 69
Floating wind farms 69
Grid connection 70
Energy storage 71
Operation and maintenance 72

Chapter 5 The environmental effects of offshore wind 75

Summary 75
Introduction 76
The advantages of wind power 77
The disadvantages of wind power 79
Visual impact 79
Noise 80
Airborne noise 80
Underwater noise 81
Construction noise 82
Shipping and fishing 82
Radar 83
Radio 83
Impact on wildlife 84
Birds 84
Marine mammals 85
Fish 85
Seabed life 86
Environmental impact assessment 87

Chapter 6 The economics of offshore wind generation 89

Summary 89
Introduction 90
Installation costs 92
Energy costs 94
External costs of power generation 98
Grid issues 99
Economic incentives 101
Financing offshore wind projects 102

Chapter 7 The outlook for offshore wind 105

Summary 105
Introduction 106
Drivers and resistors 108
Drivers 108
Resistors 111
The future of offshore wind power generation 113
Costs and benefits 116
Conclusion 117
Index and references 119
Index 119
References and notes 122

List of Figures
Figure 1.1: Growth in offshore wind generating capacity 23
Figure 2.2: European offshore wind energy resource 31
Figure 4.3: Wind turbine cost distribution 56
Figure 6.4: Comparing costs from recent offshore wind farms with costs of different generating technologies 96

List of Tables
Table 1.1: Offshore wind energy projects 20
Table 1.2: Growth in offshore wind generating capacity 22
Table 2.3: Annual energy production (MWh) 27
Table 2.4: European offshore wind energy resource 32
Table 2.5: UK offshore wind energy resources 33
Table 2.6: Japan's offshore wind resource 35
Table 3.7: Summary of national policies on offshore wind 51
Table 4.8: Wind turbine cost distribution 57
Table 4.9: Offshore wind farm turbine size 58
Table 5.10: Lifetime emissions of carbon dioxide for various power generation technologies 77
Table 6.11: Installation cost of offshore wind farms 92
Table 6.12: Energy yield as a function of wind speed 94
Table 6.13: The cost of electricity produced by offshore wind farms 95
Table 6.14: Competitive costs of different generating technologies 96
Table 6.15: External costs for various power generation technologies within the EU 98
Table 7.16: Proposed offshore wind projects 113
Table 7.17: Second round of UK offshore wind licences 114