A study released in December predicts the US offshore wind industry will launch in 2012 with a 20 megawatt project and then grow rapidly to five gigawatts of capacity by 2020.
The study, “Global Offshore Wind Energy Markets and Strategies 2009-2020,” was completed by Emerging Energy Research, a consulting firm based in Massachusetts and Spain.
“The North American offshore industry will be born with its first installation of 20 MW in 2012 and steadily rise through the decade to 6.6 GW installed over the following seven years,” according to the report.
The company predicted that the first US project would be the Deepwater Wind development near Block Island, Rhode Island.
“New England and mid-Atlantic states, such as Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Delaware, are well-positioned to absorb the greatest portion of this growth, given their substantial clean energy demand, relatively high power prices, and lack of sufficient alternative renewable energy resources,” the report said.
The report also predicts challenges to the US offshore wind industry, including community resistance to wind farms, the lack of offshore wind turbine construction vessels, lengthy permitting processes and the higher cost of electricity from offshore wind turbines.
The findings, however, were ultimately optimistic. Emerging Energy Research forecast global investment in offshore wind increasing from $3 billion annually in 2012 to more than $32 billion by 2020.
Thu, Jan 7, 2010
Business