Wind Energy Update News

The buzzword of the Offshore Wind industry today is the Levelised Cost of Energy (LCoE) – the lifetime cost of the project, per unit of energy generated – which needs to be lowered in order to maximise the size of the industry. The 5th annual Offshore Wind Construction, Installation & Commissioning Conference, October 14-15, 2013 | Hamburg, Germany will consider such problems. Current wind farm projects have indicated that costs have stabilised at around £140 / €160 per MWh and regulators have put forward a challenge that offshore wind should reach a LCOE of £100 / €120 MWh by 2020…

In a recent survey conducted by Wind Energy Update (WEU), five sub-areas of wind power plant installation were selected for cost reduction. The sub area selected by the senior executives with most potential for cost reduction was foundations, with almost twice as many responses as the next closest. Foundations make up 19% of an offshore wind power plant’s LCOE according to Lindoe Offshore Renewables Center [LORC]. Foundation cost reduction, and the cost of the logistics to their installation, constitute a very relevant means of further lowering the LCOE of offshore wind projects. Partnerships and integration key to success 
For offshore wind to remain relevant, installation and operational costs must reduce.

On the basis of an exhaustive industry survey, Wind Energy Update finds that wind farm return on investment is around - 21 percent. According to the survey, this underperformance is attributable to over-estimation of power production and underestimation of O&M costs. When it comes to turning a profit throughout the lifecycle of a wind farm, just a one percent improvement in operations and maintenance can make a huge difference to the bottom line. The challenge, however, is how to achieve that one percent improvement in the face of operations and maintenance (O&M) costs that are double or even triple initial projections. In the early days, the industry had costed out O&M at roughly 0.5c/kw over a turbine’s 20-year life.

Offshore Wind Health and Safety Summit 2012 to consider how to ensure workers safety in this hazardous industry. The European offshore wind industry is growing exponentially. In the first half of 2012 alone offshore wind power was up 50% on the previous year; 523.2 MW compared to 348.1 MW. EWEA predict that 2012 will be the best ever year for the industry. Along with this installed capacity, 13 offshore wind farms were in construction in the first half of this year. This is great news for everyone in the industry, but the health and safety of those involved must be secured. With an increase in the construction and installation of wind farms, there will be an increase in those working offshore.

After interviewing over 100 offshore wind experts working in the North Sea and surrounding oceans, Wind Energy Update has collated the results to give the industry the latest market data. It is well known that the North Sea and Baltics all provide excellent conditions for offshore wind projects, and Europe is far advanced in providing government incentives to the industry. However, with the lack of grid access and projects moving further from shore and into deeper water the offshore wind market here presents large liabilities for developers but a potentially lucrative market for contractors. Developments progressed slower in 2011 than in 2010 with only 788.1 MW of additional offshore wind capacity installed as opposed to 1139.9 MW in 2010…

“Experience of the team” was recently named as the principal trait to accumulate capital for current offshore wind projects as found in Wind Energy Update’s survey on offshore wind investment and finance. Further to this, survey participants also saw that: ”the use of proven technologies’’ and the “site characteristics’’ also played a major role in the acquisition of finance. As explained by Marios Papalexandrou of Mott MacDonald, ‘experienced teams have greater risk awareness which allows them to predict hazards and respond to them in a quick and efficient manner’. The two fellow speakers (Matthew Tilbrook of Mizuho Corporate…