A reflection of the industry itself; this year’s event has doubled in size since 2009, ensuring that EWEA OFFSHORE 2011 will be the biggest conference of its kind in the world.
The offshore wind energy sector, despite the economic crisis blowing around it, remains decisively strong: In 2010 some 308 new offshore wind turbines, worth €2.6 billion, were fully grid connected – a 51 per cent increase on installations compared to the previous year. That’s just one of the reasons the European Wind Energy Association is looking forward to its EWEA OFFSHORE 2011 event in Amsterdam, the Netherlands later this year.
This bi-annual event – the largest of its kind in Europe and indeed the world – will present the latest news and views on water-based wind energy technology. The conference will cover all relevant aspects from the financial to the political and scientific and be complemented by an exhibition featuring hundreds of the companies involved in the offshore wind industry.
Participants arriving in Amsterdam for the EWEA OFFSHORE 2011 conference and exhibition can expect to learn the latest about marine-based wind power technologies and how the sector is expected to grow and assume a major role in Europe’s energy portfolio during the next four decades.
They will also be able to meet hundreds
of the companies involved in the offshore wind industry.
Ian Marchant, Chief Executive Officer of Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) underlined the importance of this event: “Electricity from offshore wind farms can and should play a key part in meeting Europe’s energy needs over the next decade,” he said. However, “there are many challenges such as safety, technology and cost. EWEA OFFSHORE 2011 provides an excellent forum in which to consider these challenges and help ensure they are met so that offshore wind farms become a sustainable energy source in every sense,” he added.
