Activities and Prospects
1. Introduction
2. Recent and Current Research Activities
3. Recent and Current Projects
4. National Plans
5. National Activities
6. Market Developments
7. Benefits to the Environment
8. Employment Prospects for Europe
9.Benefits for European Industry
10. REFERENCES
3 Recent and Current Projects
This section describes recent and current demonstration and full-scale commercial offshore wind farm projects. Many of the earlier projects have been a ccompanied by extensive measurement and analysis programmes, which are also described here.
Most of the existing projects are demonstration projects, with the exception of Middelgrunden wind farm, a 40 MW development three kilometres off the coast of Copenhagen, Denmark. Most of the planned projects are fully commercial enterprises.
The following offshore windfarms are planned in Belgium:
· Vlakte van de Raan - 100 MW wind farm 12-15 km from the coast , developed by Electrabel and Ondernemingen Jan De Nul. This project includes a 20 MW pilot phase
· Wenduinebank - 100 MW (50x2MW) wind farm 5 – 8 km from the coast , developed by C-power (Interelectra, Dredging International, and Turbowinds)
T hree offshore wind farms are already in operation in Denmark:
|
Name |
Number of Blades |
Diameter |
Turbine Capacity |
Number of OWEC’s |
Type of Foundation |
Installation Method |
Marinisation |
Maintenance Access |
|
Vindeby 2-6m WD 1.5-3km from shore |
3 |
35m |
450kW |
11 |
RC Gravity |
Modified transport ship (base) Jack-up (tower) |
Offshore paint system, sealed, recycled cooling air, dehumidified. Standby heating, Nacelle-mounted hydraulic cranes |
Special boat |
|
Tuno Knob 3-5m WD 6km from shore |
3 |
39m |
500 kW |
10 |
RC Box Caisson Ore Filled |
Modified barges Floating crane |
NA |
Special boat |
|
Middelgrund 5-10m WD 2km from shore |
3 |
76m |
2MW |
20 |
RC Gravity |
Modified transport ship (base) Jack-up (tower) |
Offshore paint system, sealed, recycled cooling air, dehumidified, standby heating. nacelle-mounted hydraulic cranes |
Special boat |
In addition, there are several at various stages of planning:
· Horns Rev 160 MW (under construction)
· Roedsand 150MW (under construction)
· Gedser 150 MW
· Omoe 150 MW
· Laesoe 150 MW
· Samso 25 MW (EIA study issued)
M easurements are being taken at the Middelgrunden Wind Farm to assess wind spectra around the towers and power output in relation to the placement of individual turbines within the wind farm. Forces in the towers and foundations under environmental loading will also be measured.
In Finland, offshore wind farms are planned for:
· un-named on small nearshore rock islands
· un-named 10-30MW 5km offshore 6-10m water depth
Currently, there are no existing offshore wind farms in France, however several are planned or at various stages of development, including at:
· Breedt,
· Dunkerque
The largest number of planned offshore wind farms are in Germany. Locations where wind farm developers have stated their intention for developing offshore windfarms include:
· Butendiek 80 x 3MW
· Dan-Tysk 300 x 5MW
· Nordsee AWZ 100-200 x 5MW
· Helgoland I and II
· Borkum Riffgrund 200 x 3-5MW
· Borkum Riffgrund West 458 x 2.5MW
· Borkum III 12 x 4-5MW
· Pommersche Bucht 200 x 5MW
· Arkona-Becken 172 x 4-5MW
· Adlergrund 69 x 3-5MW
· Nordergrunde 76 x 2.5-5MW
· Offshore Helgoland 100 x 2MW
· Schleswig-Holsteinische Nordsee 100-200 x 5MW
· Wilhelmshaven 2 x 4.5MW
· Mecklengburg-Vorpommern 20 x 2MW
· Sky 2000 50 x 2MW
In Greece, following the deregulation of the energy market in 2000, petitions for 4 LSOWE-plants with total installed capacity of ~500 MW are currently under consideration at the Regulatory Authority for Energy of the Ministry of Development.
A number of offshore wind farms are also planned for Ireland, at [19], [24] & [25]:
· Kish Bank: 10km from shore, 200-250MW
· Bray Bank
· Arklow Bank: <10 m water depth, 10km from shore, 500+MW
· Blackwater Bank
· Codling Bank
· Greater Codling Bank
In Italy, there has been a feasibility study for out offshore wind farm at Ragusa.
In the Netherlands, there are two offshore wind farms located in the inland fresh water Ijsselmeer:
|
Name |
Number of Blades |
Diameter |
Turbine Capacity |
Number of OWEC’s |
Type of Foundation |
Installation Method |
Marinisation |
Maintenance Access |
|
Lely 5-10m WD 0.8km from A shore |
2 |
40.8m |
500kW |
4 |
3.7m monopile |
No |
||
|
Dronten 20m from shore |
43.0m |
600kW |
28 |
monopile |
No |
In addition, two further windfarms of planned:
· Q7 Sector 100MW
· Egmont aan Zee 100MW
According to the Maritime Bureau, after exclusion of all restricted areas (birds, fishing, offshore exploitation), ca. 2 800 km2 for development of offshore wind power is available in Poland, that is 8.5% of the Polish territorial waters . I n the Gdansk Bay, the area where implementing wind turbines is possible is ca. 40 km long and on the open sea coast line (from Jastrzebia Gora to Swinoujscie) - it is ca. 200 km long, excluding costal banks at Wistula – and Szczecin Bays.
The Maritime Bureau in Gdynia has issued consents for two following offshore locations:
- 49-61 turbines of 2,0 MW near Białogóra. Project led by Nowa Energi
- 50 x 2 MW near Karwia (Dębki-Jastrzębia Góra). Project led by Wiatropol
At this moment there are two other pending applications at Słupsk Municipality, where Bałtyckie Elektrownie Wiatrowe S.A. (Baltic Windpower S.A.) request for permission near Sarbinowo, however no information has been cleared yet.
It can be assumed that all the locations referred to have at least pre-feasibility studies made, but nothing has been disclosed yet.
Source: Maritime Institute, 2000
Fig. 1: Locations for potential offshore wind power development on Polish territorial waters.
…
Three offshore wind farms are currently operational in Sweden:
|
Name |
Number of Blades |
Diameter |
Turbine Capacity |
Number of OWEC’s |
Type of Foundation |
Installation Method |
Marinisation |
Maintenance Access |
|
Nogersund 5m WD 0.5km from shore |
3 |
27m |
220kW |
1 |
Steel tripod |
Submersible barge |
Boat & ladder |
|
|
Bockstigen-Valar 6-8m WD 4 km from shore |
3 |
37m |
500kW |
5 |
2.15m drilled and grouted |
Jack-up |
||
|
Utgrunden |
In addition, further offshore wind farms are planned at:
· Orestad
· Klasardenproject
A demonstration of the commercialisation potential ( Valar 2, 5 MW)
This European funded demonstration projects was undertaken by Vindkompaniet under the Fourth Framework Programme, THERMIE p roject r eference WE/ 00057/96 in 1996 and 1997.
Research will also be performed at the Klasardenproject; a 42MW development in Sweden planned for 2002 installation.
There is one offshore wind farm in the United Kingdom off Blyth Harbour. Further information on this project can be obtained from www.blyth-offshore.co.uk: The Blyth offshore wind farm is a European - funded demonstration project undertaken by AMEC Border under the Fourth Framework Programme, THERMIE project reference WE/00208/95 between 1996 and 1999.
|
Name |
Number of Blades |
Diameter |
Turbine Capacity |
Number of OWEC’s |
Type of Foundation |
Installation Method |
Marinisation |
Maintenance Access |
|
Blythe Harbour, NE England5-11m WD 1km from shore |
3 |
70m |
2MW |
2 |
3.7m drilled and grouted monopile |
Jack-up |
Boat & ladder |
In addition, numerous offshore wind farms are planned, including for:
· Barrow
· Burbo
· Cromer
· Gunfleet Sands
· Inner Dowsing
· Kentish Flats
· Lynn
· North Hoyle
· Rhyl Flats
· Scarweather Sands
· Scroby Sands
· Shell Flat
· Southport
· Teesside
Construction of the 37.5 MW Scroby Sands offshore wind farm, East Anglia, England
This European funded demonstration project is currently being undertaken by PowerGen Renewables under the Fourth Framework Programme, THERMIE project reference WE/00218/ 97 and is scheduled to be completed in 200 3.