Four thousand Eiffel Towers

Ethical MarketsResource Efficiency, Greentech

Offshore wind is one of the most talked-about forms of renewable energy. No doubt when the European Commission will publish its Energy Roadmap 2050 in December, it will be crucial in reaching the EU’s renewable energy and climate targets. Yet in practice not too many offshore wind parks have been built as yet. At the end of 2010, barely 3,000 MW of offshore wind capacity had been installed in Europe, mostly in the UK and Denmark, according to figures from the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA).

Countries like Spain (number two in onshore wind power), Portugal, France, Greece and Italy have not built a single offshore wind turbine yet. Germany (number one in onshore wind) has built just 92 MW. This picture, however, is set to change drastically. Many European countries have highly ambitious expansion plans in offshore wind. Germany wants to scale up its capacity to 8,000 MW, France to 4,000 MW, the UK to 13,000 or maybe even 20,000 or 25,000 MW. Countries like Denmark, Ireland, Sweden and Belgium also have ambitious plans.

In all, according to EWEA, by 2020 some 40,000 MW of offshore wind power capacity will have been built in Europe. That’s the equivalent in capacity of some 40 coal-fired power stations. Or, to put it another way: the combined height of these wind turbines will be equivalent to roughly 4,000 Eiffel Towers.

That is, of course, if all plans go through, which is still an “if”. The first country to have scrapped its offshore wind power plans is, a bit ironically, Holland, the country of windmills. The reason: the high costs. So far the Dutch are the exception, but in the UK too a political discussion has started. The UK government has now set up a panel that will investigate how the costs of offshore wind farms can be brought down.

One of the participants in the panel is Danish energy company Dong. With good reason: if there is one company that knows most about the real costs – and real potential – of offshore wind it is Dong. Dong was the first company in the world to build an offshore wind park and is now the world leader. In the past year it has managed to draw in institutional investors that have agreed to invest hundreds of millions of euros in its parks.

So how does Dong think the costs of offshore wind can be reduced? EER’s editor Karel Beckman talked about this with Dong CEO Anders Eldrup, appropriately enough during the Copenhagen Green Week recently held in the Danish capital. Eldrup explained Dong’s unique approach to offshore wind, which is all about controlling the supply chain. ‘We don’t work project by project’, says Eldrup, ‘but are building up a portfolio of orders that will allow our suppliers to produce on an industrialized basis, as in a car factory.’ To read the interview with Eldrup, please click here.

5-6 December 2011 | Maastricht, The Netherlands

Making Europe More Energy Efficient

Two-day training seminar on EU energy efficiency policy, best practice examples, funding mechanisms and other relevant issues, bringing together practitioners from the public and private sectors and the European institutions. Click on this announcement to find out more!

 

21-23 November 2011 | Groningen, The Netherlands

Energy Delta Convention

High-level energy platform with a unique interdisciplinary platform for senior business, science and government experts. This year the program of the convention consists of three seperate conferences on Gas Quality and Energy Transition, Smart Energy Grids and the Hansa Energy Corridor.

Coming up on European Energy Review

 

  • The Levant Basin: a new oil and gas province in Europe – in a very sensitive spot
  • Europe’s Green Energy Chaos: a critique of European energy policy
  • New report: how to build a European-wide CO2 pipeline network
  • The prospects of geothermal energy
  • The EU external energy policy: can it work?

 

Recent posts

 

Russia and Europe: Time to bury the hatchet – and embrace the market

By Friedbert Pflüger

In the current economic climate, strong energy ties between Russia and Europe could be beneficial to both sides. But an intensive energy relationship can only work if it is based on equality, argues Professor Dr. Friedbert Pflüger, Director of the European Centre for Energy and Resource Security (EUCERS) at King’s College London, and former State Secretary in the first Merkel government.

 

Kiruna: a case study in public acceptance

By Mary Harries Magnusson

Policymakers and energy companies are increasingly faced with the question how to overcome the growing public opposition to their projects and plans. Some answers may be found in an unlikely place: Kiruna, a mining community in Swedish Lapland. The residents there did not merely consent to a large expansion of the neighbouring mine – they even agreed to move their town to accommodate this project.

 

Brussels: energy projects of “common interest” should get special treatment

By Sonja van Renssen

The European Commission is preparing a proposal intended to stimulate the construction of major new electricity, oil, gas and CCS infrastructure projects. Its primary aim is to establish a number of ‘projects of common interest’ (PCI’s) that will be able to benefit from specially designed fast-track permitting procedures. These should override the cumbersome national procedures that are now in place in various member states.

 

Interview: Fulvio Conti, CEO Enel and President Eurelectric

By Karel Beckman

Fulvio Conti, CEO of Enel and newly elected President of Eurelectric, has a clear vision of where he wants to go with Europe’s most internationalised “utility” company. His ambition is to create the world’s leading utility multinational on the model of the multinational oil companies: through vertical integration, geographical and technological diversification, innovation and transparency. ‘I think we are ahead of the pack. And we’ll try to continue to be ahead.’

 

Attention all passengers: this plane is flying on abattoir waste

By Reiner Gatermann

Test flights recently carried out by Lufthansa and Finnair on passenger flights in Europe show that conventional kerosene can be replaced by biofuel without any technical problems. There are also sufficient feedstocks available. The main obstacle holding back the growth of the market are lack of demand and high price.

 

BP drives stake through the Southern Corridor

By Matthew Hulbert

Just when Moscow thought it had sealed the Southern corridor through the nascent South Stream pipeline, BP has thrown a serious spanner in the works. For Brussels, BP’s plan to build its own pipeline from Azerbaijan might even be more upsetting.