European Offshore Wind Projects Top $15.5 Billion

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Investment in European offshore wind projects set a new record for the first six months of 2016, topping 14 billion euros ($15.5 billion).

Final investment decisions for seven large wind projects were completed in the first half of the year, which will fund the building of 3.7 gigawatts (GW) of new offshore capacity--more than double the 1.8 GW funded for the same period last year.

Giles Dickson, Chief Executive Officer of industry body WindEurope, said: "The record investment numbers show a clear industry commitment to offshore wind. We expect installations will pick up significantly in 2017 but there are a lot of challenges out there still on offshore wind. Not least the uncertainty over future volumes and regulation in many key markets for the period after 2020. We're a long way from being able to say job done on offshore wind."

The same success story was not replicated on the connection front, with just 511 megawatts (MW) of new offshore power grid-connected in the first six months, down 78% on the same period in 2015. This is expected to pick up next year and towards 2020, WindEurope predicted.

Dickson added: "The costs of offshore wind are falling, but we need healthy volumes in the market to sustain this. The current pipeline of projects is not enough, and the commitments European Union (EU) Member States have so far made for beyond 2020 fall well short of what's needed. This risks undermining Europe's competitive position in offshore wind. We're number one today with over 90% of the world's capacity, but the U.S. and China are now moving to rapidly expand their offshore wind investments."

WindEurope stated that 182 turbines were erected at four windfarms in the first half of the year, a jump of 32% over the same time in 2015.

Total installed offshore wind capacity in Europe stands at 11,538 MW across 82 windfarms in 11 countries. Germany (258 MW) and the Netherlands (253 MW) were the only European countries to add new capacity in the first six months of 2016. The average size of the 114 new turbines installed was 4.8 MW, up from 4.2 MW a year ago.

Earlier this month, most of the largest energy companies in Europe joined efforts in the U.K. to cut the cost of offshore wind power below £100 per megawatt hour (MWh) by 2020. For additional information, see July 13, 2016, article -- Energy Giants Aim to Slash Offshore Wind Costs.

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