12.07.2015 Views

Energy Systems and Technologies for the Coming Century ...

Energy Systems and Technologies for the Coming Century ...

Energy Systems and Technologies for the Coming Century ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

a. Offshore wind in DenmarkDenmark was <strong>the</strong> first country in <strong>the</strong> world to develop <strong>and</strong> implement wind power in itsenergy system. The wind power share of <strong>the</strong> domestic electricity supply has increasedfrom 1.9% in 1990 to more than 20% in 2010.Since <strong>the</strong> end of <strong>the</strong> 1970s Denmark has built up a strong technological <strong>and</strong> researchcompetence in wind power <strong>and</strong> in 1991 Denmark became <strong>the</strong> first country in <strong>the</strong> worldto install offshore wind with 11 x 450 kW Siemens turbines in <strong>the</strong> Vindeby offshorewind farm (Danish <strong>Energy</strong> Agency, 2009). This was followed by smaller demonstrationprojects until Middelgrunden (20 x 2 MW) paved <strong>the</strong> way <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> first two large offshorewind farms at Horns Rev I (80 x 2 MW) <strong>and</strong> Røds<strong>and</strong> I (72 x 2.3 MW) in 2002 <strong>and</strong>2003. Since <strong>the</strong>n UK has passed Denmark in cumulated installed capacity <strong>and</strong> is today<strong>the</strong> leading offshore wind country, though relying on offshore technologies <strong>and</strong>capabilities from <strong>the</strong> Danish wind energy sector (BTM Consult, 2010).Basic analysisInnovation characteristics: The electricity production of a wind turbine depends on windconditions. Wind speed varies from place to place <strong>and</strong> over time <strong>and</strong> generally, windblows more at sea than on l<strong>and</strong>. The development of offshore wind turbines has since1991 passed through three phases – <strong>the</strong> pioneering period up to 2000 consisted ofrelatively small turbines (450-600 kW) installed near coast. The following three years,mainstream megawatt technology was adapted to offshore. Since 2003 emphasis is todesign MW technology <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> offshore environment. Upscaling, reliability <strong>and</strong> quality isneeded to develop competitive wind power plants.Cost of energy is far from being competitive with onshore wind power, not to sayelectricity produced from coal fired power plants (IEA, 2009; Megavind, 2010). But costof energy can be halved through dedicated RD&D. The Megavind Offshore RD&Dstrategy aims at making offshore wind power competitive with newly built coal-firedpower plants by 2020 (Megavind, 2010). More specifically, this implies 25% increase of<strong>the</strong> power production per installed MW, 40% reduction of <strong>the</strong> installation costs per MW<strong>and</strong> 50% cost reduction of operation <strong>and</strong> maintenance per installed MW.Also, new innovative floating concepts <strong>for</strong> deep waters may drive down cost of energy in<strong>the</strong> long run. Also <strong>the</strong> combination of technology development <strong>and</strong> installation of nearshore wind power farms in shallow waters may drive down cost of energy providedpublic acceptance.Market dem<strong>and</strong> aspects: The market <strong>for</strong> wind generation is expected to exp<strong>and</strong> in <strong>the</strong>future. While l<strong>and</strong> based wind energy will remain dominant in <strong>the</strong> immediate future,offshore wind will become increasingly important. The actual offshore wind energy islocated almost entirely in Nor<strong>the</strong>rn Europe due to large sea areas with water depth < 50m<strong>and</strong> good wind resources, while l<strong>and</strong> resources with good wind conditions are scarce.Although <strong>the</strong> European offshore wind energy is still in its infancy with 2.1 GW ininstalled capacity, it is expected to increase to 40 GW or 25% of European wind powerby 2020 similar to 3.6–4.3% of EU electricity consumption (EWEA, 2009).While Denmark has <strong>the</strong> highest proportion of installed wind capacity to population, <strong>the</strong>future market <strong>for</strong> offshore wind is abroad, in <strong>the</strong> waters of Nor<strong>the</strong>rn Europe. Today, <strong>the</strong>largest offshore market is UK (894 MW) <strong>and</strong> Denmark (625.9 MW) (BTM Consult,2010). Although Denmark has set ambitious target <strong>for</strong> offshore wind, both Germany <strong>and</strong>UK have announced indicative targets <strong>for</strong> offshore wind of 20–30 MW. In <strong>the</strong> UK <strong>the</strong>Crown Estate has in its three rounds built up <strong>the</strong> potential <strong>for</strong> around 40 GW to beinstalled by 2025. The national target of Germany is 9 GW but <strong>the</strong> most likelydevelopment indicates 20–25 GW by 2030 (BTM Consult, 2010: 95).There is some competition around <strong>the</strong> North Sea to offer attractive shipping ports <strong>for</strong>offshore turbines, foundations <strong>and</strong> trans<strong>for</strong>mer plat<strong>for</strong>ms. Due to <strong>the</strong> size of <strong>the</strong>sestructures, manufacturers <strong>and</strong> suppliers often prefer to locate manufacturing facilities ator close to <strong>the</strong> ports of shipping (BTM Consult, 2010: 90).Risø International <strong>Energy</strong> Conference 2011 Proceedings Page 79

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!