Denmark Brings World’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm Online

Posted by Big Gav in denmark, offshore wind power, wind power

Inhabitat has a post on the commissioning of the world's largest offshore wind farm - the 209 MW Horns Rev 2 plant off Denmark - Denmark Brings World’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm Online.

With a price tag of $1 billion, Horns Rev isn’t cheap. But the project could offset some serious carbon emissions and help Europe achieve its goal of getting 20% of its power from renewable sources by 2020. If offshore wind projects continue, the European Wind Energy Association predicts that offshore turbines could produce as much as 10% of the EU’s power in the next 11 years.

The US has been reluctant to get on board with offshore wind power, mostly because of the increased cost of offshore energy, maintenance concerns, and naysayers who think the turbines are unsightly. But with Europe expecting offshore wind to provide up to 200,000 new jobs by 2025, perhaps the US should think twice before dismissing the technology.

1 comments

Bob Wallace says 2:46 AM

Why the warning to the US about dismissing offshore wind?

We've got a lot of programs in progress. We've got farms in the planning stage in Texas, off the New England coast, in the Great Lakes. We've got companies in the process of installing turbines on top of played out oil platforms.

With the advent of floating turbines look for activity along the very promising Northwest Coast where the water is generally too deep for normal turbine installation.

Offshore has not received the same attention in the US, I suspect, because we have so many excellent on shore sites. Off shore with its more constant wind and proximity to large urban centers will come.