Offshore wind conference to bring world’s leading experts on offshore wind energy to help stimulate growth of multi-billion dollar market.
Crews install foundations for the Block Island wind farm.
The United States has enough offshore wind energy to supply its total electricity needs four times over, and as its engineers and energy companies have not exploited this potential, the industry is set to experience explosive growth – as much as 80GW could be installed over the next 25 years, according to the US Department of Energy.[1]
By contrast, European countries have grown their stock of offshore assets by an annual rate of 20%,[2] and once those projects presently under way have been completed, they will have a total installed capacity of 4.3GW. Some counties are shifting their entire generating base to offshore power: Scotland now generates 11% of its electricity from offshore sources
In the process, companies and investors have become increasingly experienced in designing, installing and profiting from floating turbines, alliances have been forged between companies, governments and universities, and the industry has become increasingly mature and sophisticated.
Up until now American firms have been prevented from following suit and exploiting the tremendous energy resource on their doorstep by a combination of environmental concerns, bureaucratic tangles and political opposition.
Now federal agencies and state governments have woken up to this glaring omission in US energy policy, and companies last year instituted demonstration projects in the waters off New Jersey, Oregon and Virginia.
To help make up for lost time Wind Energy Update has organized Offshore Wind Market Development USA 2016, a three-day conference that will explain the latest thinking on how to deliver a commercial scale project. It will bring together more than 30 top executives from around the world, each an expert in the fields of design, fabrication, installation, finance, regulation and business planning.
The technical component will encompassing the latest unit designs and turbine technologies, methods of supply chain management, installation techniques and operation and maintenance planning.
The technical component will encompassing the latest unit designs and turbine technologies, methods of supply chain management, installation techniques and operation and maintenance planning.
The business and policy elements will look at ensuring schemes are profitable, and this will analyse proven ways to develop a utility-scale market and build up collaborative relationships with companies in adjacent markets. It will also hear from the policy-makers who have the job of devising a pragmatic regulatory structure as well as a tax and subsidy environment capable of stimulating long-term investment.
The conference will be held in Boston at the Wyndham Beacon Hotel on May 10 to 12.
Event contact: adam@windenergyupdate.com
[1] Nature magazine: http://www.nature.com/news/renewable-energy-wind-power-tests-the-waters-1.15992
[2] http://www.ewea.org/fileadmin/files/library/publications/statistics/EWEA-European-Offshore-Statistics-H1-2015.pdf
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