This article was first published by from New Energy Update.
There is one subject that all commentators on the US offshore wind industry agree on: the sector is going to undergo rapid expansion over the next decade. What does provoke argument is the likely scale of this growth and the relative importance of the factors that are going to push it forwards or hold it back.
The few states pursuing offshore wind are highlighted in dark blue.
In response, New Energy Update, in association with the 3rd Annual US Offshore Wind 2018 Conference, have put together this exclusive whitepaper analysis (below) about why the US offshore wind market will supersede growth Bloomberg New Energy Finance’ predictions of total installed capacity of 3 to 4 GW by 2030.
Bloomberg New Energy Finance has forecast that the US will have a total installed capacity of between 3 GW and 4 GW by 2030, however, the predominant view of the speakers at the conference was that the actual increase may be twice that. This consensus was significant for a number of reasons. Firstly, it reflects the opinion of those who are actually making the decisions and taking the risks. So, the conference was addressed by key political figures from New York and Massachusetts, two of the states that are blazing the trail that the rest of the US will follow. They were joined by developers from the European and American companies who are bidding for leases and the consultants who are advising them on how they should bring forward projects.
Secondly, delegates were in a position to analyze the latest economic, industrial and technological trends that are driving the global industry.
All of these trends are in a state of more or less rapid change. In the past year, we have seen rapid falls in the levelized cost of offshore energy, developers who have opted to forgo all public subsidy, the installation of 195m-high turbines in the Irish Sea and an unprecedented flood of investment from capital markets. Those are all features of the European market, of course, but they will all have a bearing on what happens in the US. So, having convened the best-informed people with the latest information, what leads them to believe that the US offshore industry will outperform BNEF’s estimate? And what can developers do to ensure that it happens?
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Filed Under: Offshore wind
