A pioneering German wind power plant's new high-tech equipment, to capture higher winds further offshore and for longer periods, is exciting the industry.The Alpha Ventus wind park started this month and operates 45 km off the German-Dutch coast. Existing European wind parks operate only 20 km offshore at the most.
Alpha Ventus was forced by German environmental laws to build in deeper waters further out to protect tidelands.
The 250 million euros ($357.7 million) test field, also known as Borkum West, lies near the German-Dutch border with steel foundations 30 meters deep.
On August 11, three of the 12 Alpha Ventus turbines of five megawatts each began test runs and the rest are expected to start by the end of 2009.
Not just the big utilities that clubbed together for Alpha Ventus -- E.ON, Vattenfall Europe and smaller rival EWE -- are betting on its success.
German Repower and French Areva jointly supply the turbines for Alpha Ventus.
But Germany's Siemens and Denmark's Vestas, which installed half of all the world's existing turbines, also hope to benefit.
Some analysts believe higher-technology offshore wind has a big potential future within the next decade.
"In the long-term, by 2015, it could have a recognizable impact on the wind industry," Katharina Cholewa, analyst at WestLB, said.
The International Energy Agency believes that offshore wind power will grow more than 100-fold by 2030.
SOURCE : REUTERS
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment