By Damien Gay
Wind power is charging ahead at a great pace with new wind farms being proposed every week. In fact, the rate at which new wind power projects are being constructed and proposed is so great that wind turbine manufacturers are unable to keep up with demand. Companies such as Vestas and Siemens have warned that orders could take years to be met.
Before wind farm developers can get to the stage of ordering materials such as wind turbines, though, they have to gain approval from government and environmental agencies first. At this point, opposition from local residents can make or break the project. Common grounds for opposition to wind farm construction include noise concerns, the aesthetic look that wind turbines have on the landscape and the dangers that wind turbines pose to local bird and bat populations.
In an effort to solve these kinds of problems, wind power developers are moving to the world's oceans. Admittedly, construction costs are much greater and logistics can prove much more problematic, offshore wind farms represent enormous potential for producing clean electricity in large quantities.
Offshore wind farms are already in commercial operation in small to mid-range scales - from 4MW to just over 100MW - particularly in the North Sea off the coasts of Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.
Offshore wind farms such as Denmark's 160MW Horns Rev Offshore Wind Farm and the 160MW Nysted Wind Project are the largest offshore wind projects currently producing electricity. The Danish government have set a goal to have at least 4000MW wind capacity in Danish waters by 2030. There are more than 10 projects currently in construction or in the planning stages around Denmark at the moment.
The UK, too, have been active in the construction of offshore wind farms. Numerous small to medium sized facilities have already been constructed off the coast of Scotland, England and Wales as well as Ireland. These projects are forerunners to a series of major projects that are currently in the developmental stage. The London Array Project will have a maximum capacity of 1000MW of electricity, the Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Project will have a capacity of 500MW, the Arklow Bank Wind Farm has been proposed for construction 10km off the coast of Ireland and will have a capacity of 520MW and the Humber Gateway Offshore Wind Farm has been proposed with a capacity of producing 300MW of electricity.
Across the Atlantic and there are a number of proposals for offshore wind farms off the American coastline. Cape Wind has proposed a 420MW wind farm on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket. Bluewater Wind has proposed to construct a 450MW facility 11.5 nautical miles off the coast of Delaware and Blue H Technologies has recently put forward a proposal to construct a 420MW floating deepwater wind farm off the coast of New England.
Across to the Pacific Ocean and the NaiKun Wind Energy Group has announced and initial 320MW wind project in the Hecaite Strait, British Columbia. The intention of developers is to phase in more wind turbines until the facility has reached a maximum capacity of 1750MW, enough to supply power to 600,000 homes.
Some of the advantages of constructing wind farms offshore include not having to lease land off existing landowners, the noise problem is completely mitigated, the wind turbines won't be visible from the shore, environmental impacts will be considerably fewer and concerns about overhead transmission lines will not exist with underwater and underground cabling used to bring electricity to shore.
With untold potential space in the world's oceans available to be utilized, offshore wind power is an industry that is still in its infancy. With every successful project that is brought to commercial production, techniques in construction and maintenance are being perfected and costs are gradually coming down. This means that the clean electricity produced from these offshore wind farms will be even more attractive to customers and the environment.
If you wish to find out more about offshore wind farm projects or any other renewable energy developments, you can visit Renewable Energy Development. You can also get a more in depth view of a vast range of wind power projects.
