Green Options » North Sea

12 Million Homes Powered By German Off-Shore Wind

Susan Kraemer — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:48:32 +0000

Germany’s position as the world wind leader was consolidated today with an announcement of 40 offshore wind farms to be built in German waters more than 12 miles off the coast.

The goal is to get a total of 25,000 megawatts just from ocean-sited wind power by 2030. This would provide the first half of that; from a 12,000 MW wind farm.

Germany is only just starting to dip its toes into off-shore wind production. It signed its first offshore wind project of just 15 megawatts a few months ago with the Alpha Ventus project that was co-financed by German energy giants Vattenfall, E.on and EWE and subsidized by the German government.

How Do You Build the World’s Biggest Wind Farm?

Ariel Schwartz — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 23:23:14 +0000

We recently learned that Denmark plans on building the world’s largest wind farm. With a net installed capacity of 209 MW, Horns Rev 2 (companion to Horns Rev 1) will provide power to 200,000 homes. The North Sea offshore wind farm is scheduled for completion later this year.

For info on the construction process of Horns Rev 2, check out the MSNBC video below.

North Sea Grid Could Bring Wind Power to 70 Million Homes

Andrew Williams — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:48:11 +0000

European Union officials are studying plans for an international wind power grid in the North Sea that could provide energy generated from renewable sources to 70 million European homes.

The proposed offshore grid would be more than 3850 miles long, and connect more than 100 wind farms, containing a total of 10,000 turbines to seven countries, including Britain, Denmark, France, Norway, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The plans, based on a report written by Greenpeace and environmental consultants 3E, assume that 68.4 gigawatts of capacity, across 118 identified wind farms, will be in place across the North Sea within 10-20 years, and could meet an impressive 13% of the annual energy needs of the countries involved.

An Ill Wind Blows in the U.K.

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 21:51:57 +0000

The U.K.’s Times Online reports today that plans for at least four offshore wind farms might be in jeopardy because of objections from the Ministry of Defence.

The last-minute filing by the MoD states the proposed wind farms would lie directly in the way of three of its main radar defense stations along the British coast. The wind turbines would create holes in the ministry’s radar surveillance coverage, possibly obscuring oncoming aircraft, the objection stated, according to the Times Online.

That assessment runs counter to previous findings that the planned wind farms wouldn’t affect defence operations, the Times Online continued. As a result, wind-farm developers have responded with their own letter of protest to government officials.

The proposed offshore farms are part of the U.K.’s strategy to generate up to a third of the energy it needs from wind power.