Capacidad producción y/o servicio

The use of energy from offshore wind resources has shown inconsistent growth throughout the world, but there are indications that the growth trend may begin to smooth out and accelerate (Table 3-2). European nations connected 584 MW of offshore wind capacity to the electrical grid in 2009, an increase of 56% over the previous year. European nations have a long history of harnessing wind energy, and Europe has been the leader in offshore wind. Several other countries, though, have begun looking toward offshore wind to meet their energy needs, including Canada, China, and the United States.

3.3.1 Europe

Recently, the need to decrease carbon emissions; stabilize energy costs; and increase the use of indigenous, reliable energy sources has created an urgency in Europe that is resulting in a concerted effort to generate more energy from the wind. With almost 2,300 MW of installed capacity, Europe leads the world in offshore wind energy production (Table 3-2). After the first offshore wind project was installed off the coast of Denmark in 1991, more than 830 turbines have been installed and connected to the grid in nine European countries (EWEA 2010a). The market is continuing to expand with at least 1,000 MW expected to be installed during 2010. Of the hundreds of projects that are currently navigating some layer of the permitting process, at least 52 have been given consent and at least 16 are under construction. As seen in Table 3-2, Germany and the United Kingdom are expected to lead this growth. According to the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), 50 GW of offshore wind energy projects are in some stage of permitting and construction and at least 100,000 MW of projects are in some stage of planning and development (EWEA 2009b). If 100 GW of capacity were installed, 8.7% to 11% of the European Union’s (EU) electricity demand would be met by offshore wind, and 202 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year would be eliminated (EWEA 2010a). For the long

term, the EU has set goals for offshore wind installations to reach 40 GW by 2020 and 150 GW by 2030.

Table 3-2. Offshore Development in Permitting and Under Construction

Country or Under Construction Permitting, Approved,

(MW) In Operation (MW) Belgium 1,194 30 Canada 1,826 0 China 201 102 Denmark 653 664 Estonia 1,000 0 Finland 1,306 30 France 1,455 0 Germany 25,411 72 Greece 1,101 0 Ireland 1,530 25

Italy 2,526 0 Japan 0 1 Maldives 75 0 Netherlands 3,969 247 Norway 565 2 Romania 500 0 Spain 70 0 Sweden 3,346 163 United Kingdom 6,085 1,041 United States ~2,000 0 Total 54,813 2,377 Source: 4C Offshore Ltd. 2010.

3.3.2 Other Parts of the World

Other than European nations, only a few countries have offshore wind projects in operation and/or development (Table 3-2). In Asia, China and Japan have operating offshore projects. China has several projects in development and one project has been approved in the Maldives. Other Asian countries, including South Korea and Taiwan, are still in the planning stages. In North America, Canada and the United States have several projects in development. The following subsections summarize efforts in other countries, and Section 3.4 covers the status of offshore wind in the United States.

China: China deployed its first offshore wind turbine in 2007 and recently completed

construction on its first offshore wind farm, the 102-MW Donghai Bridge project. By 2020, the Chinese government plans to increase the use of alternatives to fossil fuels to generate 15% of the nation’s total energy consumption (GOV.cn 2010). Offshore wind energy has the potential to generate more than 750 GW of China’s energy, which is almost three times the wind energy potential on land (see http://english.gov.cn/). In January 2010, China’s National Energy Bureau and the State Oceanic Administration enacted an interim measure on the management of offshore wind farm development. Highlights of this measure include the following:

• Offshore wind must be developed through public tender.

• Chinese-funded enterprises must be the developers or have majority ownership. • Developers must start construction within two years of winning the tender.

Japan: Japan has put a strong policy framework in place for renewable energy development,

including a renewable portfolio standard (RPS), power purchase agreements (PPAs), and subsidies for field testing and business. But extreme weather, economic downturns, a volatile legal system, and grid issues have decreased investment in both land-based and offshore wind energy. Recently, however, there have been indications that interest in offshore wind has been renewed (GWEC 2010).

The Republic of Maldives: The Republic of Maldives, a group of islands in the Indian Ocean,

relies heavily on fossil fuel imports to meet its energy needs. The government has set a goal of becoming carbon neutral within the next decade. The production of energy from offshore wind farms is expected to supply 40% of the nation’s energy needs by 2013 (Miadhu 2010).

Canada: As a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, Canada is committed to reducing its carbon

emissions to below 1990 levels, and the country has been steadily increasing its energy

production from land-based wind resources. Now, several offshore wind energy projects are in phases of development in the Great Lakes region as well as in coastal areas. For the last few years, the Canadian government has encouraged wind energy through the ecoENERGY for Renewable Power program. This program provides production incentives of 1 cent/kWh for the first 10 years of production (GWEC 2010). In addition, most provinces have set targets for wind energy development. Several provinces are also in the process of signing PPAs (GWEC 2010). The Province of Ontario launched a feed-in tariff program in late 2009 as an incentive to developers and to meet its goal of phasing out coal plants by 2014 (Wood 2010). The program provides inflation adjusted payments of 19 cents/kWh for offshore wind over a 20 year period (Ontario Power Authority 2010). The provincial government of Ontario has also set distinct rules for the offshore wind industry. In Ontario, the construction permitting process is limited to 6 months, and the government offers projects priority connection rights to the grid (Wood 2010). In turn, the provincial government envisions that the 20 GW of proposed projects (in different stages of development) in the Great Lakes area will create $253.5 billion in gross economic activity and more than 65,000 jobs, but the expected time frame could not be verified (Wood 2010).