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.

applicants are invited to submit a quotation <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> price at which <strong>the</strong> bidder is willing toproduce electricity in <strong>the</strong> <strong>for</strong>m of fixed in tariff <strong>for</strong> a number of full-load hours (Danish<strong>Energy</strong> Agency, 2009: 19-20).Fur<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>the</strong> Danish TSO Energinet.dk has made an ambitious investment plan in gridinfrastructure development within <strong>and</strong> across national boundaries. This is a key elementto enable <strong>the</strong> smooth <strong>and</strong> economic integration of large scale offshore wind in <strong>the</strong>electricity system.The national test centres <strong>for</strong> large wind turbines play an important role <strong>for</strong> both industry<strong>and</strong> research. They provide conditions <strong>for</strong> manufacturers to test <strong>the</strong> turbines as well as<strong>the</strong> necessary facilities <strong>for</strong> R&D within meteorology, wind turbine technology <strong>and</strong> gridintegration. But due to offshore market growth in <strong>the</strong> Nor<strong>the</strong>rn Europe, <strong>the</strong>re is lack ofsuch large test facilities <strong>and</strong> competitive test facilities are established in neighbouringcountries.Public RD&D programmes <strong>for</strong> sustainable energy also include offshore wind energy, butexpenditure on wind energy remains low compared to <strong>the</strong> private RD&D expenditure<strong>and</strong> does not at all match <strong>the</strong> industry technology development (Jørgensen & Münster,2010).Policy outlookOffshore wind technology started out being onshore wind turbines installed offshore butpassing through three phases, manufacturers are now developing turbines specifically <strong>for</strong><strong>the</strong> dem<strong>and</strong>ing offshore conditions with high capital <strong>and</strong> O&M costs. A cost-effectiveimplementation of offshore wind energy in North European waters depends on an intelligentcombination of focused RD&D to bring down CoE, an interconnected Europeantransmission grid <strong>and</strong> well-functioning European electricity markets. Future offshorewind farms have to provide improved cost efficiency at high wind power penetrationlevels, more specifically increasing <strong>the</strong> capacity factor <strong>and</strong> providing system services <strong>and</strong>functionalities <strong>for</strong> wind power integration in <strong>the</strong> power system. It also requires a dedicatedoffshore electricity system, providing access <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> more remote offshore windfarms <strong>and</strong> also additional interconnection capacity to improve trans-border electricitytrading (Megavind, 2010).In order to match <strong>the</strong> knowledge requirements of <strong>the</strong> industry, <strong>the</strong> Danish researchcommunity has streng<strong>the</strong>ned <strong>the</strong> internal coordination <strong>and</strong> cooperation on <strong>the</strong> one h<strong>and</strong><strong>and</strong> on <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r h<strong>and</strong> taken <strong>the</strong> lead in building up a European Joint Programme on windenergy in order to streng<strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> overall research in an effective <strong>and</strong> efficient way.Strong political commitment from governments <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> EU Commission is needed toprovide <strong>the</strong> necessary financial capital to realize <strong>the</strong> ambitious RE <strong>and</strong> offshore windenergy targets. On <strong>the</strong> technology push side, <strong>the</strong> EU Strategic <strong>Energy</strong> Technology Plan(SET-Plan) <strong>for</strong>esees a development <strong>and</strong> demonstration programme worth 1.2B€ over tenyears <strong>for</strong> new offshore structures distant from <strong>the</strong> shore, with lower visual impact <strong>and</strong> atdifferent water depths (>30m) (SEC (2009) 1295: 16-18). Although <strong>the</strong> EuropeanResearch Areas <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> internal movement of knowledge have dominated <strong>the</strong> policydiscourse over <strong>the</strong> years, a robust <strong>and</strong> intelligent combination of EU, national <strong>and</strong> privatefunding is still to be seen. On <strong>the</strong> market pull side, <strong>the</strong> liberalisation of <strong>the</strong> energymarkets is being implemented <strong>and</strong> important mechanisms such as <strong>the</strong> establishment of<strong>the</strong> European Network of Transmission System Operators <strong>for</strong> Electricity (ENTSO-E) ismade. The next important question is whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> EU energy policy will move towardssome degree of harmonised or supranational support schemes <strong>for</strong> renewable energy toavoid inappropriate attractiveness <strong>for</strong> investments.New public-private partnerships may be established to share risks <strong>and</strong> provide <strong>the</strong>necessary investments in <strong>the</strong> roll out of offshore wind farms in European waters. Whilenational energy systems are primarily confined to <strong>the</strong> geographical territory <strong>and</strong> interconnectedto its neighbours through transmission cables, <strong>the</strong> offshore wind industry isRisø International <strong>Energy</strong> Conference 2011 Proceedings Page 81

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

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!