UK continues to lead global offshore wind development

The United Kingdom leads the world in offshore wind energy development. In 2013, UK offshore wind energy sector increased yet again, and it is estimated that UK now covers 52% of global offshore wind energy market.

In the last seven years, from 2006-2013 offshore wind power installed capacity increased by 42%. The most recent estimates suggest another growth of 16% by 2020.

The value of UK offshore wind energy market is rapidly growing. The current investments of around £2 billion is set to increase to £5 billion in 2020.

Offshore wind technologies are becoming more and more proven though costs are still twice the amount of their onshore counterparts.

Siemens is the UK's market’s leader for global offshore wind turbine cumulative installations, by being practically responsible for almost all new country's installations in 2013.

Wind energy is one of the top energy sources in United Kingdom, accounting for approximately 22% of total UK's electricity in August 2013. If everything goes according to a plan, offshore wind energy could become major renewable energy source that would be of great help in achieving UK's renewable energy targets.

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The largest offshore wind farm in UK reached full workload

The largest offshore wind farm, the UK's London Array,  constructed around 20km off the coasts of Kent and Essex on a 245km2 site, has now reached full workload after the final turbine was commissioned a couple of days ago.

The 175 installed turbines are now exporting power to UK's grid, the 630MW first phase of the London Array is expected to produce enough green electricity to power nearly half a million homes a year. This output is enough to provide clean electricity to power approximately half a million UK homes. It has been also said to reduce climate change causing CO2 emissions by over 900,000 tonnes a year.

The second phase of the construction is also a possibility, and if this gets green light it would add enough capacity to bring the total to 870MW.

UK, the global offshore wind energy leader, doesn't plant to stop here as there are variety of other large offshore wind energy projects being developed in UK waters. These include areas such as Teesside, Gwynt y Mor off the coast of North Wales and Gunfleet Sands off the Essex coast

UK needs to keep momentum in order to maintain its lead in offshore wind energy development. Offshore wind energy is really the Britain's only ticket to remain competitive in global clean energy race.

Offshore wind energy will not only help offset UK's carbon emissions, it will also give big boost to economy in form of new jobs (construction and maintenance). The recent reports claim that offshore wind energy industry could create more than 75,000 new jobs in Britain till the end of this decade.

A lot of it, though, will depend on the Energy bill, the vital legislation that is going through the Parlament. The UK government needs to ensure the long-term stability for UK's wind energy development, beyond the 2020 because in these uncertain economic times potential investors want long-term safety.

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Guide to offshore wind turbines

Offshore wind energy sector is yet to achieve its full expansion because offshore wind turbines are still connected with high costs. And although land wind energy projects still dominate global wind energy industry, many countries have started giving offshore wind energy a chance. United Kingdom, a global offshore wind energy leader, sees offshore wind projects as its main ticket to enter clean energy race.

EU leads the way in offshore wind energy development while United States is yet to seriously consider this renewable energy option. Unlike EU that is densely populated and doesn't have plenty of room to provide for land wind farms U.S. still has many rural and isolated areas with good wind energy potential so it's really no surprise that U.S. still favors wind energy projects on land. However, many energy analysts believe that the future of wind energy industry will belong to offshore wind energy sector, and U.S. might want to take this renewable energy option more seriously.

Offshore wind energy turbines can provide better output compared to the ones on land because winds that blow offshore are more frequent and much more powerful. The major downside of offshore wind power is that the construction costs are very high. The reason for this is that offshore wind farms need to be heavily constructed in order to withstand extreme weather conditions.

Offshore wind turbines need to survive extreme weather events at sea.

The transport of required equipment is much easier for offshore wind energy farms as compared to the ones on land. Transporting large wind turbine components such as tower sections, nacelles, and blades is much easier over water than on land, because ships can handle large cargo much easier than trucks or trains, also with no traffic jams like on land.

The wind energy industry is already looking for possible solutions that would allow cost-effective ways of harnessing offshore wind power. One of the most interesting proposals is to use large floating platforms that could be located further offshore and catch even more wind energy.

Choosing the right location for offshore wind turbines is extremely important, not only in terms of potential output but also to make sure that offshore wind farm does not interfere with shipping lanes. The developers must also be very careful not to build them in fishing areas.

Offshore wind turbines need to be equipped with safety mechanisms because of extreme weather events, such as powerful sea storms. These safety mechanisms have the purpose to slow down or completely stop the spinning of wind turbines in times when wind speeds reach 50 miles per hour and above.

The environmental impact of offshore wind turbines is yet to be thoroughly studied. There have been some talks about the possible noise pollution coming from large offshore wind turbines but this is yet to be confirmed. In any case, their environmental impact is far more positive that the ones of fossil fuel fired power plants, which still remain primary sources of energy consumption.

Offshore wind farms need to have larger output as compared to wind farms on land. Their construction costs are significantly higher, and this can be only compensated with higher output.

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