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Offshore Wind Power Germany: From Eu 12 The offshore market will dominate the future of wind energy. But in Germany, not before the second half of this decade. The political will is the key to the breakthrough. And the maritime technology for the foundations and installation vessels must make progress in order to keep costs within reasonable limits. Offshore: Stronger winds and higher yields. With the development of the 5 MW machine, Nordex aims at maximum yield on the sea. WINDPOWERUPDATE ı Europe
phoria to Reality For some time now, one concept has been electrifying the wind energy sector: everyone is talking about “offshore”. Hardly a day goes by without yet more apparently major contributions being added to the public debate on the use of our oceans. But only some 100 MW of capacity are currently installed off the coasts of Europe. This represents approx. 0.4 % of installed wind power capacity worldwide. And in Germany? Nothing doing. To date, the precautionary principle has prevented even the smallest steps offshore. So where does the euphoria come from? Experts from the Danish consulting company BTM-Consult estimate the wind energy potential for the European seas at up to 125,000 MW. They reckon that German coastal areas alone could provide 20,000 MW. Huge against the backdrop of the present 25,000 MW of installed capacity – worldwide! According to Greenpeace expertise, if the German offshore potential is optimally used, a good half of the electricity consumption in Germany can be covered alone by wind power generated at sea. Yet, according to estimates by the German Wind Energy Institute, the offshore market will not take off until the second half of this decade. Then finally in Germany too. Just in time to compensate for the lack of space onshore. German wind energy companies which, unlike Nordex, are not involved in foreign markets have to trust this forecast. Nevertheless, the advantages of offshore operation are obvious: thanks to the strong and more constant winds at sea, higher yields can be obtained than onshore. At the same time, the machines are subjected to lower strains as a result of reduced turbulence. The consequence: reduced wear on the turbine. The real challenges are technical in nature. Adapting the machine to offshore conditions does not present a major problem: the electrotechnical units are moved from the foot to the head of the unit and the machine house protected against the saline atmosphere by means of a dehumidifier. The additional costs involved are quire reasonable. However, the situation is different for the foundation and for installation. This is where the main cost blocks are involved which make an offshore project up to 50 % more expensive than wind parks onshore. Gravity foundations are used today for projects realised in shallow coastal waters. But the future lies 30 to 40 kilometres offshore, at water depths of down to 40 metres. Here different methods have to be used, such as the monopile or tri- The market for wind turbines will grow by approx. 20 % per annum in the coming years. Especially in Spain, the USA, France and Great Britain. The German market too will continue at a high level in the next few years. However, another topic also has to be considered: offshore application. By the year 2006, wind parks with a capacity of several thousand MW could be created in European coastal waters alone. pod – much more expensive foundations. So the aim pursued by manufacturers of wind turbines is clear: installation of the maximum possible yield potential on each foundation. This is why Nordex is developing a new, large turbine in the 5-MW class. The objective is to make the costs per kW specific to offshore operation both calculable and economical. In addition to this, the installation concepts at sea are based on platforms and ships with lifting devices which independently raise themselves above the surface of the water, thereby offering a stable working platform. These too are unsuitable for transport in heavy seas and cannot work continuously. This means that the actual process of erection must be made faster and so more cost-favorable. In Germany, it is high time for the first pilot projects to be realised if a breakthrough is to be made in the offshore market. These will enable manufacturers and partner companies to gain initial experience with offshore units. It is not only the wind energy sector and the shipyard industry that will benefit. 6 million tons of steel are needed to build the units solely to exploit the German offshore potential of 20 gigawatts. This is approximately equivalent to the quantity of sheet steel produced annually throughout Europe. No. 15 ı December 2002 13
Page 1 and 2: No. 15 ı DECEMBER 2002 NEWSLETTER
Page 3 and 4: Editorial Dear reader, in this issu
Page 5 and 6: Numerous detail solutions testify t
Page 7 and 8: The time of large-scale power plant
Page 9 and 10: The wind farm starts five kilometre
Page 11: switching off the wind farm in case
Page 15 and 16: The Fontanelles wind turbines situa
Page 17 and 18: When Less Can Mean More Nordex Repo
Page 19 and 20: Worldwide Installations Country Ins
Page 21 and 22: Nordex USA, Inc. In Gear with New E
Page 23 and 24: + + Short News + + + Short News + +

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