ABSTRACT
The oceans cover two thirds of the earth’s surface, contain energy resources far greater than the entire human race could possibly use, and offer open space for deploying new energy technologies on a grand scale without significant interference with the environment or normal human activities. As for wind farms, the wind speed in the ocean is higher than on land — 30 to 40% higher in the open ocean and 15 to 20% higher near the shore. An offshore wind farm, therefore, can generate up to 50 to 70% more power and reduce its electricity costs, even with a higher cost of installation in water. For this reason, many large offshore wind farms have been installed in Europe (Figure 7.1), and more are under construction. Governments in many countries in Europe, Asia, and the Americas are evaluating new proposals every year. Germany has a goal of installing 30-GW offshore wind farms by 2020, the U.K. has plans for 6-GW offshore capacity by 2010, France aims at 5-GW offshore capacity by 2010, Winergy of Long Island has applied for 12-GW capacity off the U.S. east coast, and Australia’s Tasmanian coast is being seriously explored for large wind farms.
