It’s an interesting article.
2 Likes
They are expensive though. An already operating floating farm that supplies power to Norwegian oil rigs cost about $8 million per MW of capacity. The average cost of a normal wind turbine is some $1.3 million per MW, so the floaters are 6x more expensive, and that is without miles of undersea cables to the mainland.
DB2
3 Likes
Meanwhile suppliers claim to be losing money. And cite “supply chain issues” I wonder what that means? Semiconductors for controllers? Rectifiers? Inverters? Copper? Coils wound in China? Steel? Plastics for blades? Bearings?
Supposedly these suppliers are well established big companies. Excuses, excuses. Not profitable enough. Need to raise prices some more.
Blue Gem Wind did not bid for a UK government contract, a decision which industry voices said was a “huge wake-up call” for Westminster…Blue Gem Wind said a huge increase in costs meant the money on offer was not enough to make it worthwhile to bid…
The UK government said the lack of bids for new offshore wind projects was “in line with similar results in countries including Germany and Spain”…
DB2
1 Like
A survey by Westwood Global Energy Group (Westwood), the specialist energy market research and consultancy firm, reveals a lack of standardisation of floating technology (55%), manufacturing capability and capacity (51%) and port infrastructure (50%) as the most commonly cited major hurdles and risks to floating offshore wind progress…
The majority of respondents (54%) expect <3GW of global capacity to be operational by 2030, with Europe reaching 0.5-2GW in the same timeframe (61%).
DB2
2 Likes
And then there’s maintenance.
A contract has been dished out for “major maintenance” on Hywind Scotland, the world’s first floating wind farm, which is set to be towed from Aberdeenshire to Norway for repairs…Equinor confirmed last week that the five 6MW Siemens Gamesa turbines would need “major maintenance” after six years of operation.
DB2