With the US finally open for business, and China and Japan looking to expand into their vast coastal resources, is it finally time for Europe’s wind sector to spread its wings into untapped territories? Is Eastern Europe ripe for further development? We take a look at the conditions and deliver our assessment…
Europe is the most maritime of all continents. The European seas and oceans offer considerable and untapped economic potential. Nevertheless, they also pose a formidable policy challenge to decision makers. So, should we be looking further afield to site our offshore turbines?
There’s no doubt that offshore wind plays a key role in the maritime economy. It is an emerging and booming industry, ready to renew the industrial fabric of our regions and create jobs. By 2020, offshore wind could grow substantially, providing electricity to almost 39 million households, if we support its development. And this will go much further beyond 2020, in part thanks to the deployment of floating offshore turbines.
In the Limassol declaration, the European Commission and the Member States have recognised the enormous potential for innovation and competitiveness in the maritime sectors, specifically offshore wind. More importantly, we have committed to supporting its development with a dynamic agenda. In the Blue Growth Communication, the continent’s wind sector is putting specific sectorial initiatives in place, along with maritime spatial planning and the marine knowledge initiative.
These measures will support the growth of the blue economy. However, these are the first steps on a long road, placing the maritime dimension at the heart of all our efforts.
Further work must be done to develop new and bold economic thinking so that all the maritime sectors meet their innovation and competitiveness potential. In fact, this leadership in innovation must be encouraged at European and national level so that domestic wind resources can be better exploited and the European industry can benefit from export opportunities.
The United States
The offshore wind potential in the US is immense, due to long coastlines and a good wind resource. The latter is not only vast but is located close to the main consumption centres as coastal areas are the most populated parts of the country.
Offshore wind projects are envisaged in most US coastal regions including the Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico and the West coast. Although there is an estimated offshore wind resource of around 4,150 GW, more than half of this capacity is in waters deeper than 60m, making near-term development unlikely.
There are no offshore wind farms in the US to date. Nevertheless, significant efforts are under way to research and develop deep offshore designs. In 2010, the Department of Energy (DOE) launched the Offshore Wind Innovation and Demonstration Initiative to help advance commercial offshore wind development in the United States.
