The cost of energy from offshore wind has come down from £136/MWh in 2011 to £121/MWh for projects in construction up to 2014, according to a new report.
What has caused this dramatic 11 per cent reduction, achieved ahead of schedule?
The biggest single contribution to cost reduction has been the offshore wind industry’s early adoption of larger turbines. Turbines such as MHI Vestas Offshore Wind’s 8MW model, the upcoming Adwen (Areva and Gamesa JV) 8MW, and Siemens’ and Alstom’s 6MW machines, are sure to push costs down even further for the upcoming rounds of offshore wind projects.
With two offshore wind farms winning contracts with the CfD scheme in the UK – East Anglia Phase 1 and Neart na Gaoithe – and more projects being approved in European waters, it is the right time for the manufacturers of these heavy-weight offshore turbines to be showing the industry the potential of their machines. It is also the time for designers and manufacturers of the WTG substructures, which will be supporting this 6MW+ generation of turbines, to extol the benefits of their foundation concepts under these new pressures.
At the Offshore Wind Structures conference in London, they will be doing just that. Ramboll, Atkins, RES Offshore, Seatower, Statoil and more are bringing their expertise and lessons-learnt for specific foundations concepts alongside turbine manufacturers including MHI Vestas Offshore, Siemens, Gamesa and Alstom, to stimulate the conversation that is at the core of the industry right now: which technologies will come out on top?
Amy Allebone-Salt
Project Director for Offshore Wind Structures
Wind Energy Update
amy@windenergyupdate.com
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