News & Articles on Offshore Wind
I’ve written very little about offshore wind. It’s a subject I don’t follow closely. Nevertheless, I do come across an article or topic on offshore wind from time to time that I want to highlight and that’s the reason for this page. Offshore wind is an important branch of wind energy, but it is only a branch. It will be important in certain locations, such as the heavily populated eastern seaboard of the United States, where it makes sense. However, most wind energy is and will be generated on land.
Floating wind could power UK to net zero
By
David Toke
In sum, around three-quarters of the technical potential for offshore wind involves floating offshore wind farms. Indeed, all offshore wind, both floating and fixed-bottom, could provide more than 2100 TWh of UK electricity (see HERE). This is much more than the UK will ever need to meet net-zero greenhouse gas policy objectives, or indeed any other policy objectives.
How utilities and big oil broke the economic model of offshore wind
By
Jérôme Guillet
Offshore wind is currently broken. There is a despondent mood in the sector, and it looks like everybody is trying to get rid of their assets or reduce their exposure to the sector (see BP, Equinor, Shell, Vattenfall, Total, an even Ørsted, Corio or Bluefloat). And yet – they brought this on themselves, through a combination of hubris, ignorance, and reliance on lobbying rather than good business acumen.
Wind farm site supervisor released on bail for CO2 leak incident
By
External Source
The supervisor of an onshore wind farm construction site in Changhua County has been released on bail of NT$200,000 (US$6,260) following the death of a worker on Monday due to a CO2 leak incident, according to the Changhua District Prosecutors Office. The incident occurred on Aug. 20 at the Hai Long construction site for an offshore wind farm, resulting in one death, with two workers still in critical condition, and 14 others injured.
RFK Jr.’s ‘Sad’ Slide From Environmental Hero to Outcast
By
External Source
Opposition to offshore wind by the third-party presidential candidate turned Trump supporter began decades ago in the waters off Cape Cod. Project proponents say the fierce opposition by Kennedy, a presidential candidate who recently suspended his campaign but remains on the ballot in nearly three dozen states, had a long-lasting impact on the U.S. offshore wind industry and laid the seeds for opposition that continues today. “It set back offshore wind over 20 years in the United States,” said Jim Gordon, the former CEO of Cape Wind, the company that tried to build the Nantucket Sound project. Gordon said Kennedy was often the loudest, most combative voice of the well-funded opposition. “You have to understand that they created such a brouhaha and so much fear over the technology and the impacts, which have proven to be unfounded.”
CfDs can make offshore wind a fundamental feature in a future decarbonized electricity market
By
External Source
Offshore wind projects incur up to 90% of lifetime cost upfront and have very low operational costs. To finance the high upfront capital needs, projects typically take on long-term loans with heavy debt-service commitments. The economic viability of these projects hinges on stable, long-term revenues – but markets cannot deliver those, because of their volatile nature and limited hedging options.
Offshore wind requires Contracts for Difference – not subsidies
By
Jérôme Guillet
Governments procure renewables through a variety of mechanisms. Contracts for difference (CfDs) have been used for more than 50% of the global offshore wind supply. The payments awarded through CfDs are sometimes labelled subsidies, suggesting that they support uneconomic activity. Here, we argue that the primary role of CfDs is rather risk management by creating a market for electricity supply at stable long-term prices. Similar to its use in other sectors of the economy, this contract type transforms a variable to a fixed price to reallocate volatility risks. Such long-term contracts are often necessary for renewables financing due to limited hedging options in existing markets.
