Europe-wide project on offshore wind energy launched
The European Commission has initiated a project to stimulate the development of offshore wind energy into an important source of energy. The project, 'Concerted action on offshore wind energy in Europe (CA-OWEE) aims to gather and distribute knowledge on all aspects of offshore wind energy, including offshore technology, electrical integration, economics, environmental impacts and political aspects. It will take 18 months to complete, and is to be funded by the European Commission. Led by the wind energy section at the Technical University of Delft, the Netherlands, companies from 12 Member States along with a Polish company will participate in the project. The partners are from a wide range of fields and include developers, utilities, consultants, research institutes and universities. The project will focus on the large-scale exploitation of the offshore wind resource through the use of very large wind turbines with improved performance, reliability and reduced environmental impacts. It is hoped that the project will result in a reduction of offshore wind electricity costs, making them equal to those of traditional power stations. Offshore wind parks are likely to become an important source of energy in the near future. It is expected that, within 10 years, wind parks with a total capacity of thousands of megawatts, the equivalent to several large traditional coal power stations, will be installed in European seas. Plans are currently advancing for such wind parks in Swedish, Danish, German, Dutch, Belgian and British waters.
Countries
Netherlands