By Elle Duffy
Offshore wind capacity in Europe rose last year by 18%, with the majority
of the rise accounted for by the UK and Germany, according to a new report.
WindEurope said the increase follows the installation of 2.6GW of new
offshore wind energy capacity in 2018, with 15 new offshore wind farms
going online.
The increase means that 2% of all energy consumed in Europe now comes from
offshore wind farms.
Three Scottish developments in the North Sea saw over 50 offshore turbines
connected, contributing to Europe’s total of 409 developments connected
last year.
The Beatrice 2 wind farm in the Moray Firth, European Offshore Wind
Deployment Centre (EOWDC) off the coast of Aberdeenshire and Kincardine
Pilot have a total capacity of 368.2MW.
Kincardine Pilot is home to the North Sea’s first floating wind turbine,
and is located around 15km south-east of Aberdeen.
WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson said: “Offshore wind continues to grow
strongly in Europe. The total capacity expanded by a further 18% last year.
“Offshore wind now represents 2% of all the electricity consumed in Europe.
And with a big pipeline of projects under construction and development,
this number will rise significantly.
“The technology keeps developing. The turbines keep getting bigger. And the
costs keep falling. It’s now no more expensive to build offshore wind than
it is to build coal or gas plants. And it’s a good deal cheaper than new
nuclear.”
Stephanie Conesa, policy manager at Scottish Renewables, said: “Scotland is
home to around a quarter of Europe’s offshore wind resource and we are now
starting to build out projects which will harness this potential.
“Scotland is also emerging as an international centre of offshore wind
innovation, and the economic impact of these projects is already being felt
in ports like Nigg and Wick and coastal towns including Campbeltown and
Stornoway, which are seeing investment, development and jobs.
“The Scottish Government has shown its ambition to generate the equivalent
of half of all energy consumed from renewable sources by 2030 and offshore
wind can play a key role in meeting that ambition, as well as the UK’s
wider climate goals and our international commitments under the Paris
Agreement.”
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