Giant wind turbines in deep water and their challenges Moving to deeper waters enables the installation of giant turbines in the 5MW to 10MW range. However, there are several obstacles for the industry to overcome; foundation types, installation, operation and maintenance, and the financial cost of these installations. Find more information on the topic in the article here: http://bit.ly/Pawsey_Challenges

1. The Challenges Facing Giant Offshore Wind Turbines in
Deep Water
By Colin Pawsey
The offshore wind potential of European waters is immense. 66% of the North Sea
has a water depth of 50-200 metres, and using 6MW turbines in this area alone
would be capable of meeting Europe’s demand for electricity four times over,
according to estimations by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA). Wind
energy remains central to the EU’s energy policies in the coming decades, and the
EWEA has projected 40GW of installed capacity by 2020 and 150GW by 2030,
equivalent to 14% of EU electricity demand or 562TWh.
This will necessitate a move to deeper waters which allows the installation of much
larger turbines in the 5MW to 10MW range, to take advantage of greater wind
speeds further out to sea. This is a huge challenge for the wind industry, which
despite rapid development, is still relatively young. As wind farms move into water
at depths of more than 50 metres there are several obstacles for the industry to
overcome, from foundation types and grid integration, to marine spatial planning
and the financial cost of these installations.
Current status
The EWEA released a market summary of the status of the European offshore wind
industry in January 2014, and it provides an in-depth analysis of the current state of
play. The market summary of 2013 revealed some interesting figures:
 418 new offshore wind turbines, in 13 wind farms, worth between €4.6 billion
and €6.4 billon, were fully grid connected in 2013, totalling 1,567MW, 34%
more than in 2012.
 522 new turbines were erected during 2013, an average of 4.3MW per day.
104 were awaiting grid connection at the end of the year.
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