Offshore wind is one of the primary renewable energy sources helping many countries handle climate change. It’s clean, predictable, and sustainable, offering an unfailing power source that is decarbonizing the world’s electricity supply. If you are to reach net zero, offshore wind must be one of the primary vehicles for getting you there.
What is Offshore Wind Energy?
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Offshore wind energyLink Text is power extracted from the wind at sea and converted into electricity for consumers on the land to use. For example, the UK is today Europe’s largest market for offshore wind and has sunk billions of pounds into technology. It boasts the largest installed capacity of offshore wind worldwide, with 10GW currently in operation, and the Government is targeting four times that amount by 2030.
Why is Offshore Wind Becoming More Popular?
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Demand for offshore wind is rising vey quickly. Besides being a natural, renewable source of energy, it is also cost-efficient, clean and creates employment.
Here are some of the main reasons why offshore wind power is the future:
It’s an environmentally friendly energy source:
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Offshore wind is spearheading the renewable energy revolution as a clean, green, energy source with much lesser carbon emissions than fossil fuels. A recent report by ORE Catapult identified a 34% carbon saving if new turbines are manufactured with recycled content. Furthermore, because offshore wind sites are far out to sea, there’s minimal risk of noise and site pollution.
It’s an efficient use of homegrown resources:
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Many countries worldwide are blessed with windy sea conditions, with steady, high-speed, consistent winds. Just small increases in wind speed can make a massive difference in energy generation. For instance, a turbine in 15mph wind can generate nearly two times as much energy as a turbine in 12mph wind.
It’s priced much lesser:
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The price of offshore wind across the world has dropped massively in recent years and it is now one of the cheapest forms of energy generation. The sharp rise of natural gas prices has hiked household energy bills, hence consumers are struggling to heat their homes. The lower prices of homegrown, clean energy such as offshore wind energy can increase energy security all over the world and help protect you from global fuel price hikes.
Offshore wind structures can adapt to the site:
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Since years, offshore wind turbines were based on fixed structures, and it was very difficult to install them in deep or complex seabed locations. You can, today use floating structures anchored to the seabed with the help of chains or steel cables to capture offshore wind. This means it is now possible to access larger and deeper offshore areas with higher wind potential.
The Bottom Line
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Being at sea means more open space is available to build wind farms. The earth’s largest wind farm, Hornsea 2, is situated 89km off the Yorkshire Coast and generates 1.3GW of energy, enough to power more than 1.4 million households in the UK. In the bottomline the future is very bright for offshore wind power.
