Floating offshore wind power will set off a wave of energy innovation

The small floating offshore wind power demonstration equipment designed by engineers from the University of Maine is located in the waters near the coast of Maine, and has been collecting data to understand the impact of storms in coastal waters on turbines, etc. Photo source: University of MaineEngineers test floating offshore wind power models in the swimming pool of the Advanced Structures and Composites Center at the University of Maine

The small floating offshore wind power demonstration equipment designed by engineers from the University of Maine is located in the waters near the coast of Maine, and has been collecting data to understand the impact of storms in coastal waters on turbines, etc. Photo source: University of Maine

Engineers test floating offshore wind power models in the swimming pool of the Advanced Structures and Composites Center at the University of Maine. Photo source: University of Maine

In March this year, the United States Department of Energy released the strategy of popularizing offshore wind power, which aims to increase the installed capacity of offshore wind power from tens of thousands of kilowatts now to 110 million kilowatts by 2050. Currently, fixed seabed mounted wind turbines are widely used worldwide, which are suitable for shallow water beaches and are difficult to apply to waters with depths exceeding 50 meters. Therefore, they have not yet been widely commercialized. The floating system that allows power generation equipment to float offshore has become a key aspect of the US offshore wind power strategy. United States Secretary of Energy Jenny Granholm stressed that "this is one of the most promising clean energy technologies in the 21st century, which will enable the United States to achieve carbon free electricity by 2035."

In addition to the United States, Europe is accelerating the commercialization of floating offshore wind power; Asian countries have also begun to deploy floating wind power development. Nihon Keizai Shimbun commented that floating offshore wind power is expected to set off a wave of energy innovation.

Towards the Deep Sea

As a low-cost and safe energy source, offshore wind power is increasingly regarded as the core of global decarbonization.

But research shows that most of the world's wind energy resources are located in waters with depths exceeding 60 meters. According to the United States Department of Energy, two-thirds of the offshore wind energy resources in the United States are located in deep water areas. The deep sea area has a large area and good wind power. The wind energy density at a depth of 50 meters or more is about 2-4 times that of offshore areas.

As the development of offshore wind energy resources tends to become saturated, it is a trend for offshore wind power to move towards deep and distant seas, and floating offshore wind power development models are suitable for areas with water depths exceeding 60 meters.

According to CNN, floating offshore wind farms have huge energy potential and can generate more energy than solar panels or onshore wind energy. Graham stated last year that floating turbines are expected to generate up to 2.8 billion kilowatts of clean energy in the future, more than twice the current electricity demand in the United States.

Canadian Priority Research predicts that the global floating wind power market will reach approximately $69.8 billion by 2030.

European and American competition

Currently, many countries are competing to develop and deploy floating offshore wind power.

According to CNN, the first full-size floating offshore wind turbine in the United States will stand above the waves in the Gulf of Maine, with a blade diameter of 236 meters. It is planned to operate before 2030, and is expected to generate up to 15000 kilowatts of clean power, enough to power thousands of homes. It is reported that there are a total of 10 such turbines.

At present, there are only 20 such floating offshore wind turbines worldwide, mainly located in Europe. Experts say these floating turbines are the future of the wind energy industry, with each project expected to provide clean electricity to 750000 households.

Danish wind turbine inventor Henrik Steelsdal estimates that floating offshore wind power can ultimately provide half of the electricity for the East and West coasts of the United States, and Europe has set a goal of obtaining half of the electricity from floating offshore wind power by the middle of this century.

In September 2022, the Biden government announced a plan to install a 15 million kilowatt floating offshore wind power plant by 2035.

Europe is leading the way in the field of offshore wind power and is accelerating its practical application. Scotland has launched the world's largest floating wind power development plan, preparing to develop offshore wind power with an installed capacity of 28 million kilowatts in approximately 8000 square kilometers of sea, of which approximately six will become floating wind turbines. Norway plans to build more floating offshore wind farms by 2030. The UK also plans to build a million kilowatt floating offshore wind power facility by 2030.

Asia Promotion

Last November, the government of Wanning City, Hainan Province, China, signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Power Construction Corporation of China Hainan Branch to invest in the construction of the country's first million Kilopower floating offshore wind power test project. According to relevant reports, the project completed its feasibility review in September 2022 and is planned to be constructed in two phases. The first phase has a construction scale of 200000 kilowatts and is scheduled to be put into operation before 2025; The second phase has a scale of 800000 kilowatts and is planned to be put into operation by the end of 2027. (Reporter Liu Xia)

Source: Science and Technology Daily

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