Offshore wind hopes for a livelier future

(Climate News Network, 15 Apr 2020) With more countries realising how offshore wind can help cut carbon emissions, a massive building boom looks likely.

Generating electricity from offshore wind looks like an idea whose time has come, with the emerging technology set to grow at extraordinary speed in the next decade. But despite its great potential, deployment may still not be fast enough to avert the climate crisis.

The prospect that offshore wind energy will grow from 22 Gigawatts (GW) in 2018 to 177 GW by 2030 is based on predictions from the industry that makes and installs the turbines, with manufacturers taking orders from 12 major markets across the globe. The International Energy Agency has said it expects the sector to become a $1 trillion industry within 20 years.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) says there is a staggering compound annual growth rate of 19% in offshore wind − faster than any other industry on the planet.

One GW is reckoned to be enough to provide electricity to 500,000 North American homes, so offshore wind will provide enough power for many a coastal city. New offshore turbines currently being developed in Europe are extremely large, generating as much as 10 MW each.

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Climate News Network, 15 Apr 2020: Offshore wind hopes for a livelier future