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Tailwind for Large Investors –
Analysing Ownership Structures in Offshore Wind Power
a report by
Jochen Markard
1
and Regula Petersen
2
1. Group Leader, Social Science Department, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag);
2. Swiss Federal Office of Energy
The global market for wind energy is expanding rapidly. As available Figure 1: Largest Owners of Offshore Wind Power (Operational and
land resources are becoming increasingly scarce, offshore wind power
Planned Capacity) in the UK
is gaining momentum. In 2009, eight new offshore windfarms with a
7,000
capacity of almost 600MW became operational, and another 800MW
is expected for 2010. Key players in the ‘offshore game’ are large
6,000
multinational utility companies such as E.ON, RWE, Vattenfall and 5,000
Dong Energy, and it seems that utilities that have ignored renewable
4,000
energies for several years are now taking over from independent power
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producers and co-operatives. A closer look at the ownership structures
3,000
reveals interesting differences between on- and offshore wind energy. 2,000
1,000
Prospects and Challenges in Offshore Wind Power
0
Over the last 15 years, wind power has grown from a small niche in the
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electricity sector to a viable alternative for electricity production in many
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countries. In 2008, a capacity of over 120GW was in operation
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worldwide, and market growth rates are still in a double-digit range
ed Submitted Approve Under construction OperationalAward d
above 25%.
1
Wind turbine manufacturing has become an industrial
Authors’ own data, 2009.
sector that in 2008 employed over 400 thousand people and accounted
for an annual turnover of €36 billion. Key drivers for this success are
various policy schemes that promote technology development and Particularly ambitious are plans for the UK, where the Crown estate has
diffusion in countries such as Denmark, Germany, the UK and Spain. just awarded another 32GW in its third bidding round for offshore
This support is likely to continue, as ambitious targets for the windfarms. Interestingly, the list of successful bidders reads like a
deployment of renewable energies are still high on the political agenda. ‘who’s who’ of European energy suppliers. By taking a closer look at
the ownership structures of wind parks, we will analyse whether this is
Whereas wind energy potentials are still huge in many places, some more than just a UK phenomenon and whether there are systematic
European countries already face saturation effects for onshore wind differences between on- and offshore windfarms.
power as suitable sites are becoming increasingly scarce. Against this
background, the use of shallow waters in the open sea for wind power Comparing Onshore and Offshore Wind Power
generation has recently received much attention. Compared with In a recent study,
4
we analysed what impact offshore wind power
onshore wind turbines, offshore wind energy benefits from higher and might have on ownership and organisational structures in the wind
steadier wind speeds and seems all the more feasible today as technology power sector. For Denmark, the UK and Germany, onshore as well as
development has pushed the size of wind turbines well beyond the
megawatt level. Today, turbines of 5MW and above are being tested and
Jochen Markard is a Group Leader in the Social
are expected to become a new standard in the coming years. The scale
Science Department at the Swiss Federal Institute of
effects of such multimegawatt turbines erected in large offshore wind
Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag). His research
parks offset some of the extra costs of construction, grid connection and
areas are new technologies and innovation processes
in infrastructure sectors (energy and water supply). In
maintenance. It must be noted that the current market share of offshore his research, he draws on innovation system
wind turbines is still small (about 1–2% of the total market). However, in
approaches to analysing sustainable innovations such
as fuel cells, biogas technology, photovoltaics, green
some countries and regions, offshore wind power is expected to grow at
power products and decentralised sanitation.
a much higher rate than onshore wind power and, according to a
E: jochen.markard@eawag.ch
scenario of the European Wind Energy Association, investments in
offshore turbines in Europe will surpass onshore investments after 2020.
2
Regula Petersen works with the Swiss Federal Office
of Energy (SFOE), where she co-ordinates the feed-in
By the end of 2009, more than 30 offshore wind parks with an installed
tariff for renewable energies. This includes the
capacity of about 2,000MW were in operation in the North and Baltic
implementation of new mechanisms and the
monitoring of impacts. Before joining the SFOE, she
Seas.
3
Leading countries are the UK and Denmark, followed by The
worked for the policy unit of the European Wind
Netherlands and Sweden (see Table 1). However, currently operating Energy Association (EWEA) and the Global Wind
turbines are just a small fraction of what is expected: eight times as
Energy Council (GWEC) and as a scientific researcher
at Eawag. She holds an MSc in geography.
much offshore capacity (17,400MW) is already approved by the various
national authorities, and as much as 50 times more is planned.
© TOUCH BRIEFINGS 2010
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