Britain Rules the Waves of Offshore Wind

This graph depicts the total amount of offshore wind projects that are “in the pipeline”, a branch of sport dominated by Europeans, who are lucky to own large, shallow water tables in the North Sea, Irish Sea and Baltic Sea, with excellent wind speeds (>10 m/s average). These 600,000 km2 combined have the potential to supply the entire EU with clean electricity three times the current consumption. Currently the British are adopting wind energy at a breath-taking speed, pun intended, although the developers and equipment producers are mainly continental Europeans, that is Danish, Germans, Dutch, Norwegians, Swedish, whose industries are growing rapidly and have the potential to become the successors of the Anglo Seven Sisters oil giants of the 20th century.

[cleantechnica.com] – UK Leads Offshore Wind Rankings As Global Pipeline Increases 10% In 2018, Reports RenewableUK
[deepresource] – The Enormous Energy Potential of the North Sea
[wikipedia.org] – Seven Sisters (oil companies)
[deepresource] – Gold Mine North Sea
[deepresource] – Goldmine Windenergy

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Two-Blade Wind Turbines Are Back, This Time Offshore

Why three blades if two blades work as well? It is all the fault of 1970s Danish garage pioneers, who insisted there needed to be three blades. NASA did experiment at the same time with 2-blades (WTS-4), but that project was cancelled under Reagan, who decided that oil was American, not wind. And now we are stuck with three blades.

Or are we? The originally Dutch company Sea Wind Technology is betting on two-blades, especially for offshore, with higher wind speeds (higher loads) and more difficult installation.

Advantages two blades:

– simpler design
– less material (50% less weight, no heavy tower/monopiles necessary)
– easier offshore transportation and mounting (just pile them up)
– simpler installation vessels, flat barges suffice
– more rotor flexibility, 2 degrees of freedom: rotating and teetering, reducing load
– 2% less electricity gain, but offset by much lower installation and operational cost
– Levelized cost (LCOE) reduction: 50%

[seawindtechnology.com] – Company site
[linkedin.com] – Two-bladed offshore turbines could cut the cost of energy by 50%
[linkedin.com] – Why two blades are better than three for floating wind turbines
[crunchbase.com] – Seawind Ocean Technology
[windpowermonthly.com] – Are three blades really better than two? (2011)
[interestingengineering.com] – The Scientific Reason Why Wind Turbines Have 3 Blades

Offshore wind hub Eemshaven in the Netherlands. After [1:30] you see an (onshore) two-bladed windturbine in operation.

[gic.nl] – Nieuw type windmolen met slechts twee wieken getest in Eemshaven

Boskalis Monopile Scour Protection

[wikipedia.org] – Boskalis

[source]

Dutch Company TenneT Plans 30 GW Offshore Wind Park

Dutch grid company TenneT is working on a serious plan to build a giant wind park of 30 GW in the middle of the North Sea, on the Dogger Bank, around a to-be-build artificial energy island (€1.5 billion), that is supposed to work as a power hub to distribute wind power to the surrounding countries Holland, Britain, Norway, Denmark and Germany. The island could be completed as early as 2027. The wind park will dwarf anything we have seen so far in the realm of offshore wind (think 630 MW).

[theguardian.com] – Is this the future? Dutch plan vast windfarm island in North Sea
[businessinsider.com] – The Dutch plan to build the world’s biggest wind farm
[wikipedia.org] – Dogger Bank

“Coming 10-15 Years Offshore Wind Will Be Booming”

Key figures power production The Netherlands

Average power consumption: 13 GW
Total power capacity: 29 GW
Size coming generation turbines: 8 MW nameplate power
North offshore capacity factor: 50% nameplate power

In other words: the Netherlands needs to install 13 GW / 8 MW / 0.50 = 3250 offshore 8 MW wind towers.
Modern jack-up vessels like the Aeolus (see video below) can install a single wind tower per 24h.
In other words, the energy transition of the Netherlands can in theory be accomplished within 10 years with a single jack-up ship. Dutch companies have several of these ships operational.

The bottle neck is not installing the monopiles but storing the generated wind power and convert it into H2 or NH3.

[offshorewind.biz] – Sif Gathers Steam in 2017

Haliade-X 12 MW Largest Offshore Wind Turbine To Date

The French company Alsthom (owned by General Electric) has presented what is the largest offshore wind turbine to date, the Haliade-X, with a nameplate power of 12 MW and a record capacity factor of 63%. One turbine generates enough electricity to power a small city of 16,000 French households. Rotor blades: 107 meter. Yearly production: 67 GWh.

The turbines will be built in Saint-Nazaire, Western France:

[offshorewind.biz] – GE Unveils Operation Haliade-X 12 MW
[gerenewableenergy.com] – HALIADE-X Offshore Wind Turbine Platform
[cleantechnica.com] – GE Announces World’s Most Powerful Offshore Wind Turbine, The Haliade-X

Siemens Reports EROI Onshore Wind of 50 or Larger

Siemens SWT-3.2-113

According to the manufacturer Siemens has their SWT-3.0-113 wind turbine an energy payback time of 4.5 months. With a (conservative) minimum life span of 20 years, that would mean an EROI of 240/4.5 = 53.

[siemens.com] – Press release

The Netherlands Might Become One of the Largest Offshore Wind Markets

[offshorewind.biz] – Ørsted: The Netherlands Might Become One of the Largest Offshore Wind Markets

RVO.nl Issues Hollandse Kust (noord) Geotechnical Soil Investigations Tender

An agency of the Dutch ministry of economic affairs has issued a tender for the investigation of the soil in the projected areas of a large wind farm, “Hollandse Kust” (Dutch Coast),

[offshorewind.biz] – RVO.nl Issues Hollandse Kust (noord) Geotechnical Soil Investigations Tender

Energy Island(s) North Sea Taking Shape

After TenneT TSO B.V. (Netherlands), Energinet (Denmark), TenneT TSO GmbH (Germany) and Gasunie (Netherlands), it is now the Port Authority of Rotterdam that is backing plans to build one or more wind power hub islands in the middle of the North Sea, starting from 2025. This is significant as the Port Authority has broad experience in acquiring new land from the sea. These hubs could play an important role in realizing the intended 70 GW to 150 GW offshore wind power in the North Sea by 2040. Adhering to the Paris Accords, 180 GW needs to be installed in the North Sea by 2045. Every energy island should collect 10-30 GW and transport the energy via connectors to the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Norway and Britain.

The second use of these socalled Power Link Islands is the production of hydrogen via power-to-gas conversion installations and brought onshore via existing pipeline infrastructure. And thirdly, large converterstations in the middle of the sea would no longer be necessary. And finally, these islands could function as maintenance hubs for nearby wind parks.

Converter platforms like this one soon superfluous?

[tennet.eu] – Havenbedrijf Rotterdam vijfde partner in North Sea Wind Power Hub-consortium
[tennet.eu] – TenneT presenteert ideeën voor schaalvergroting van windenergie op Nederlandse Noordzee
[northseawindpowerhub.eu] – North Sea Wind Power Hub

Dutch Company Comes to the Rescue of US Offshore Wind

America has an archaic protectionist law called the Jones Act from 1920. The law says that transport between two American harbors can be done only with American-built ships with an American crew. This law effectively kills US offshore wind development before it gets a chance to be born, because America, as an offshore wind developing nation, doesn’t have the equipment to install offshore wind parks. Offshore wind technology is world-wide for more than 90% a North-West European affair, with installation vessels and crew all-European. European offshore installation in American waters violates the Jones Act.

The US has currently only one “windpark”, Block Island near NYC: 5 turbines with a 30 MW capacity, build by Europeans. When the Norwegian shipping company Fred Olsen crossed the Atlantic, the installation ship was not allowed to dock in a US harbor. This is not good for US offshore wind.

Now a Dutch company GustoMSC has come up with a simple design that can be constructed and operated by Americans and as such start the long overdue offshore wind development near the US coasts.

[gustomsc.com] – GustoMSC Reveals SEA-3250-LT
[wikipedia.org] – Merchant Marine Act of 1920 (“Jones Act”)
[deepresource] – The Seven Brothers – Europe Taking Lead in US Offshore
[deepresource] – The Enormous Energy Potential of the North Sea
[wattisduurzaam.nl] – Antieke wet frustreert offshore wind in VS, Nederland schiet te hulp

The Growing Importance of IJmuiden as Offshore Wind Hub

The Netherlands, currently the bottom of the barrel in Europe as far as installed renewable energy is concerned, has ambitious plans to change that. The port of IJmuiden, 15 km West of Amsterdam. wil play a central role in building more than 14 GW of offshore wind power in the coming years. Projects IJmuiden Ver and Hollandse Kust (“IJmuiden Far” and “Dutch Coast” resp.).

[offshorewind.biz] – A Hub in the Netherlands
[Google Maps] – IJmuiden

“Assembling Offshore Wind-towers Onshore is Cheaper”

State of the art offshore installation. Can it really be done more economically than this?

The cheapest and fastest way to install an offshore wind turbine is to assemble it completely onshore first, including the monopile. That’s the outcome of research done by the University of Delaware. The method employed is to not work with a single large monopile ramed into the sea floor, but with several “buckets” that are suctioned into the sea floor at less depth and less acoustic impact for sea mammals. Starting base was a hypothetical large 1 GW offshore wind farm in the Delaware Wind Energy Area off Rehoboth Beach, Del., using the port near Delaware City and working with 10 MW turbines. Results: $1.6 billion less cost and only half the construction time.

[udel.edu] – Industrializing Offshore Wind Energy Development
[4coffshore.com] – Suction Bucket or Caisson Foundations
[offshorewind.biz] – University of Delaware

Hywind Scotland – the World’s First Floating Wind Farm Operational

Offshore wind no longer tied to shallow water, up to 800 m deep is workable.

How a Transition Piece is Made?

[smulders-projects.com]

Crane Aeolus Jack-Up Vessel Being Upgraded

Pictures from Schiedam harbor near Rotterdam. The 900 tons crane of the offshore wind jack-up vessel Aeolus is being replaced with a 1600 tons one to prepare the ship for installation of heavier 8 MW wind turbines. Investment volume 300 million euro. The ship is playing an important role in getting the planned 4.5 GW offshore wind capacity installed by 2020 (Germany 6.5 GW and UK 10 GW by 2020). The Aeolus is able top operate in water depths of up to 45 m. The crane adaption has to be made only 3 years after the ship was commissioned, illustrating the rapid pace with which the offshore wind sector is developing and subsequent price decline.

In 2016 the Dutch government was prepared to subsidize 12 cent/kWh, but Danish Dong offered to do it for 7.27 cent. Later Shell, Van Oord, Eneco and Mitsubishi/DGE were awarded the tender for Borssele III & IV for merely 5.45 c/kWh. In Germany tenders were awarded for wind parks to be built in 2024-2025 with no subsidy at all. Won’t be long until wind developers will be fighting over available offshore locations for the privilege of being allowed to build ever larger wind farms.

In 2017 technology has advanced to the tune that monopiles are installed with an 8 m diameter, 80 m long and weighing 1300 tons. Vestas and Siemens are building 8 MW turbines and the next steps towards 10-15 MW machines are being prepared. The Aeolus can install one foundation per day.

[heavyliftnews.com] – “Aeolus” of Van Oord being upgraded with stronger Crane
[maritiemnieuws.nl] – Huisman gaat voor 300 miljoen aan nieuwe kranen bouwen
[ayop.com] – Van Oord lays strong foundations for wind
[maritiemnederland.com] – Waar liggen de limieten in offshore wind?
[noordzeeloket.nl] – Noordzeeloket

Offshore Wind Energy 2017 Opening Video

Offshore Wind Energy 2017 conference was held on 6-8 June earlier this year in London.

[offshorewind2017.com] – Official site

2 GW Offshore Windpower Planned for British Columbia

DONG of Denmark did it again. After acquiring the 1.4GW Hornsea-UK project in the North Sea, they now will build an even bigger 2GW project off the West coast of Canada. For DONG this means an expansion beyond European borders and the Danish wind energy giant could ascend to become one of the global players in wind power that in a few decades will have replaced the mainly Anglo oil majors (“Seven Sisters”). European Seven Brothers, anyone?

[cleantechnica.com] – DONG Partners With NaiKun Wind Energy Group To Develop 2GW BC Offshore Wind Site
[4coffshore.com] – Naikun Haida Energy Field Offshore Wind Farm
[4coffshore.com] – Events on Naikun – Haida Energy Field
[deepresource] – DONG to Build World’s Largest Offshore Wind Park Hornsea-UK
[wikipedia.org] – Seven Sisters (oil companies)
[deepresource] – The Seven Brothers – Europe Taking Lead in US Offshore

DONG to Build World’s Largest Offshore Wind Park Hornsea-UK

DONG Energy of Denmark has won the bid for building the largest offshore wind park to date (1.4 GW), Hornsea-2 in the British part of the North Sea at a record low price guarantee of £57.50/MWh and is scheduled for completion in 2022. DONG is currently working on Hornsea-1 (1.2 GW), to be completed in 2020.

[wikipedia.org] – Hornsea Wind Farm
[cleantechnica.com] – UK Offshore Wind Now Cheaper Than Gas & Nuclear
[cleantechnica.com] – UK Renewable Energy Competitive Auction Yields Record Price Lows

Gasunie Joining North Sea Wind Power Hub Consortium

Earlier today the Dutch company Gasunie has joined the North Sea Wind Power Hub Consortium. The aim is to build an artificial “energy island” in the middle of the North Sea, where wind power to the tune of 100 GW will come together eventually and distributed to countries neighboring the North Sea. Furthermore the participating partners (Netherlands, Germany and Denmark) are serious about producing hydrogen and store it in empty gas fields under the North Sea.

dogger island map north sea

[nos.nl] – Nederlandse energiereuzen gaan wind- en zonne-energie opslaan
[infrasite.nl] – Gasunie treedt toe tot North Sea Wind Power Hub consortium
[wikipedia.org] – Gasunie
[tennet.eu] – Gasunie treedt toe tot North Sea Wind Power Hub
[renews.biz] – Gasunie backs island vision
[renewablesnow.com] – Gas grid operator joins North Sea wind hub concept
[arstechnica.com] – North Sea Wind Power Hub: A giant wind farm to power all of north Europe
[deepresource] – Important Step Taken Towards Energy Hub North Sea
[deepresource] – Power to gas