Even though 2.1 GW of offshore wind power has already been installed in European water with a further 1.5 expected to be constructed by the end of the year [2010], reaching targets of 40-50GW by 2020 will be a struggle and will require a significant increase in developments costing roughly £550 billion
There are huge opportunities for the offshore wind industry but the fact remains that there are aggressive targets to be met and host of significant challenges that need to be overcome. These include; the building of significantly larger projects, developing farms much further from shore and in deeper water, installing in harsh and hostile seas, and reducing escalating costs.
All these issues point to one thing. The offshore wind industry is entering unknown territory with little information to pass on, few lessons to learn from and plenty of costly mistakes to be made by the ill prepared.
Already competing for dominance in the European offshore market are countries such as the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Norway, & Belgium and developers of offshore wind energy from those countries. Now is the time to make decisions regarding strategy, workforce, the construction supply chain and finance to ensure the availability of necessary equipment, reliability of people and ultimately the successful and timely completion of future offshore projects.
Wind Energy Developers to meet in London to pave the future
International offshore wind energy developers will be meeting at the 2nd annual Offshore Wind Construction, Installation and Commissioning Conference in London (20th -21st October) to discus how to plan and execute reliable offshore installation projects in hostile, farshore & deepwater environments. The industry led event will cover:
1) The offshore wind construction supply chain,
2) farshore strategies, logistics, planning and deepwater solutions,
3) workforce skills, expertise & safety,
4) risk mitigation & project finance
This construction specific conference will bring together the key developers, utilities, contractors, government representatives, and other key and other current industry experts to deliver not only their successes in far shore deepwater installation, but also their downfalls so to equip others with the knowledge needed for future installation projects.
Jon Harman, Director at Wind Energy Update said ‘This conference will prepare offshore wind energy professionals – and those looking to move into the industry – with previously unheard facts, figures, strategies and data than you can be implemented immediately for not just the coming months, but also coming years’
Harman continues “this will be the only meeting place to hear from the biggest names in the offshore wind industry including RWE Innology, Vattenfall, C-Power, Mainstream Renewables, London Array Limited, Siemens T&D, Fluor, REpower, Principle Power, BVG Associates, The Crown Estate, EC Harris and much more – in short, it’s a line up of only those with the knowledge to pass on”.
[mappress]
Source: prweb, August 02, 2010;