Category Archives: Offshore

Germanys Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH)has starteda process of updating the countrys new maritime spatial planto accommodate additional 3 GW ofoffshore windcapacity in the North Sea.

The basis of BSHs proposed update is the new maritime spatial plan for the German Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) in the North and Baltic Seas, which came into force on 1 September. The plan shows priority and reservation areas for offshore wind energy, and contains specifications for sites within the areas such as the capacity that could be installed in them.

As part of updating the plan, BSH will carry out a strategic environmental assessment (SEA), with a draft SEA available to the relevant authorities and the public as part of the consultation on the update of the development plan until 18 January 2022.The draft plan will then be published in mid-2022 and the final version presented at the end of 2022 or at the beginning of 2023.

BSHs update has taken into consideration the expansion goals of the recently signed coalition agreement, according to the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, which said that with 3 GW almost three million households could be supplied with electricity, which corresponds to the population of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, and Bremen.

As part of the coalition agreement, the political parties SPD, BNDNIS 90/DIE GRNEN, and FREIE DEMOKRATEN (FDP) increased Germanys offshore wind capacity targets from 20 GW by 2030 and 30 GW by 2040 to at least 30 GW by 2030, 40 GW by 2035, and 70 GW by 2045.

The coalition also agreed that offshore wind projects should take precedence over other forms of use in German Exclusive Economic Zones.

The Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, Robert Habeck, said that as the fourth largest industrialised country in the world Germany was switching its electricity supply to 80 per cent of renewables by 2030, in order to leave the age of fossil fuels behind and to make its contribution to climate protection.

This fundamentally changes the role of renewables: In the future, they will form the central basis of the electricity supply. Sufficient electricity from offshore wind farms is essential for this, Minister Habeck said. We are thus creating the conditions for significantly increasing electricity production. An additional three gigawatts of offshore wind energy is an important first step. We will need more areas at sea.

Germany has 7,770 MW of installed offshore wind capacity andis currentlythe third in the world behind the UK and China. In 2020, the countryadded219 MW of offshore wind capacity and this year, for the first time in more than ten years, it has not installed a single offshore wind turbine.

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Germany Plans Further 3 GW of Offshore Wind in North Sea - Offshore WIND

In a recent interview with Maritime Reporter TV, Robert Galinski, DNVs Offshore Wind Director, Americas, discussed the lingering question of whether existing vessels built to serve the traditional offshore oil and gas fleet could serve a significant role in the build out of the U.S. Offshore Wind industry.

Global SOV (newbuild) numbers in the next 10 to 15 years will be more than 60 vessels, said Galinski, and I think the U.S. will probably take just under a third of that, if all of the projects in the pipeline are realized, said Galinski, noting that CTV and SOV newbuild capability is high in the U.S.

While newbuild vessels will, in the long run, be the preferred choice premised on their efficiencies as well as the ability to design in fuel flexibility for future changes, Galinski said he expects existing vessels in the U.S. fleet to play a role in the short term.

Given what we've discussed, there needs to be some space for existing vessels and they can certainly fill some gaps; but only up to a point. Many of the existing U.S. OSVs, for example, could support both the commissioning and the operational phase. Most likely they'll need to be retrofitted with walk-to-work systems and extra accommodation. This can be a way of getting more of the larger PSV fleets operational in shorter time, an alternative of building new tonnage, he said.

While retrofitting existing ships will plug some holes, there will come a point where they won't be cost efficient, and it would make more sense to build a tailor-made new build, particularly for SOVs.

He estimates time window to use converted vessels at two and five years, with the long-term eye on bespoke designed tonnage that are outfitted and optimized for the task at hand, outfitted too with low emission technologies and effective energy saving systems, like battery hybrids.

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US Offshore Wind: Assessing the Use of Existing - Offshore Engineer

SALEM While Salem was celebrating the seismic news about offshore wind coming to the Witch City, City Councilor Bob McCarthy pushed for modesty: The award is great. But now the work starts.

Earlier this month, state officials announced deals with two offshore wind developers to build a combined 1,600 megawatts of power in the Gulf of Maine, most specifically turbines around Marthas Vineyard. With that, Salem will host a marshalling facility to construct 1,200mw in turbines using as many as 42 acres of vacant space around the Salem Harbor Footprint power plant.

Officials celebrated the news as the rebirth of a port. When asked for next steps, city Planning Director Tom Daniel outlined several major paths that officials locally, regionally and state-wide must take before a single turbine leaves Salem Harbor.

The most immediate action, Daniel said, is on the part of Crowley Wind Services, a New England-based subsidiary of Crowley Maritime Corporation, which plans to buy the Footprint land and serve as the long-term offshore wind port operator for the site, per the citys original announcement.

The broad brush is theyre developing their plan. They need engineering done, work on the site. Thats the immediate next step, Daniel said. Theres multiple lanes; their engineering, the planning they need to do.

As that happens, a workforce will be needed to actually power the companies building turbines in Salem, Daniel said.

Theres a connection for workforce development, supply chain work, he said. Initially, theres going to be construction jobs, but later itll be jobs working at the marshalling facility.

Beyond workforce training, the supply chain that needs to be created can get very long when one considers what is being built: something that effectively doesnt exist in the United States.

Theres just tremendous opportunities for the region in terms of jobs both at the facility and businesses that are part of the supply chain. That doesnt have to be just manufacturers, Daniel said. The big stuff comes in over the water, and the big stuff isnt made in the United States. Thats an opportunity for the country, to start building these large corporations in the United States.

Of course, the companies delivering towering turbine blades on the water will need a functioning port to deliver through. That will also require heavy work, according to Bob Blair, a senior pilot with Essex Point Pilots, which helps guide ships in and out of regional harbors.

Were engaged with the Army Corps of Engineers. We have to do a maintenance dredge of the channel, Blair said. Theres just a ton of stuff on the water side thats the business of the remaking of a Port of Salem. Thats the biggest challenge, and the implications the technical implications have to do with the timing, because Footprint still owns the site, and there hasnt been a closing or a deed transfer.

The federal government, however, is here to help.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has announced more than $241 million in grants targeting 25 port-improvement projects in 19 states and one United States territory. That includes $2.4 million being dropped on Salem Harbor specifically.

These investments will support the shift to cleaner transportation, which will create more economic activity and good paying jobs, said Lucinda Lessley, acting maritime administrator. The Port Infrastructure Development Program is an important part of building back better for our ports, our communities, our economy, and our people.

The grant award covers improvements and enhancements to the Deep-Water Berth at the Port of Salem, the announcement read. Specific components include the construction of two mooring devices, a new catwalk, and improvements to the passenger access pathway, including revetment repair, utility upgrades, and pavement improvements.

So there are steps Crowley must take to begin design and eventual construction, steps local schools must take to train a workforce, and companies will be needed to supply the eventual operations in the Port of Salem.

Were talking about a major rebuild of the Port of Salem here, Blair said. Theres going to be a lot of labor required by various companies, whether theyre third party constructing the piers or doing the dredging. People are going to be hiring people.

Contact Dustin Luca at 978-338-2523 or DLuca@salemnews.com. Follow him at facebook.com/dustinluca or on Twitter @DustinLucaSN.

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With offshore wind coming, Salem must now build - The Salem News

Clean Ocean Action discusses the importance of water testing in the Navesink River

Clean Ocean Action discusses the importance of water testing in the Navesink River

Tanya Breen, Asbury Park Press

New Jersey's offshore winddevelopers will help fund research onmarine life, paying $10,000 per megawatt of capacity to help New Jersey scientists better understand the impacts of wind farms on the Atlantic Ocean's ecosystem.

The state's Research Monitoring Initiativewill direct a total of $26 million from the power companiestoward the study of wind turbines' impacts on ocean wildlife and commercial fisheries, according to state officials.

"There's a lot of data that still needs to be better understood, both during the planning phases, but then also during construction and operation," New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette told a group of reporters during a virtual meeting.

The money will be distributed to research institutions across New Jersey with cooperation from the Regional Wildlife Science Entity and the Regional Offshore Science Alliance, two independent organizations focused on learning more aboutoffshore wind impacts on the environment.

Earlier this month, the federalBureau of Ocean Energy Management announced it had completed an environmental impact assessment of a proposal to develop wind turbines on a nearly 800,000-acre portionof ocean off New Jersey and New York, an area called the New York Bite.

New Jersey's Board of Public Utilities has already approved twooffshore wind projects off the state'scoast: a1,510-megawatt project, called Atlantic Shores,off of Long Beach Island, and two projects called Ocean Wind 1 and 2, that total2,200-megawatts,lie off Atlantic City.

The Research Monitoring Initiative is expected to help identify the farms' impactsonvulnerable ocean species, such as theendangered North Atlantic right whale.

State news: Murphy's picks for Pinelands Commission draw criticism from environmentalists

Construction of wind turbines will increase ocean noise and increase vessel traffic in the area, raising the risk of ship strikes among this small population ofwhales that migrate along New Jersey's coast,according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

This section of the Atlantic Ocean is alsothe foundation forNew Jersey's$1 billion seafood industry, awash in scallops, clams,Atlantic mackerel andblue crabs, among other species.

"When it comes to some of the science and research (of the wind farms' impacts),I think there area lot of unknown questions out there," said Scot Mackey of the Garden State Seafood Association, an advocacy group for New Jersey's commercial fishers.

Many in the industry worry the large wind farms could disrupt what it called the Cold Pool, a convergence of different ocean temperatures that make the mid-Atlantic's waters fruitful fishing grounds, Mackey said. It is unclear whether the miles of ocean wind turbines will disrupt the Cold Pool and impact fish and the fishermen who rely on them, he said.

The turbines also risk making swaths of the ocean off limits to particular types of fishing, especially varietiesthat dredge the bottom for scallops or use large nets, such as the types used to catchsquid, Mackey said.

"If these projects really impact right whale populations, shouldn't we know that before we start driving monopoles (supports for wind turbines)into the round?" Mackey said. "Or if it's going toimpact the Cold Pool, don't we need to make some… design changesto make sure that doesn't happen? We need to answer a lot of these questions before we go in (to development)."

Ocean: $24M beach fill project for Loch Arbour through Deal gets started

Fishersalso worrythe wind turbines will make their jobs even more dangerous, saidAnnie Hawkins, executive director for the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance. Hawkinssaid wind turbines create interference formany types of radar.Though she has brought the issue up to radar companies and offshore wind companies, as well as to the Coast Guard and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which leases sections of ocean to wind developers, no technical solution has yet been found, she said.

Hawkins said she hoped some of the $26 million earmarked for offshore wind research will be put toward solving that problem.

"Once a project is built, there's not much you can do to change what the impacts are going to be, it's all in the planning," she said."You can't move the turbines once they're there, if that turns out to be the thing that would help."

Joseph L. Fiordaliso, president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, saidthe $10,000 per megawatt fee will be distributed to researchers at universities across New Jersey to answer many of these pressing questions.

"We are accumulating all of this research and all of this adviceto make a determination as to the direction we want to go, (and) how farwe want to go," he said in a virtual meeting with reporters.

LaTourette, of the Department of Environmental Protection, said his agency would continue to look at the impacts of offshore wind development, work to minimize the environmental downsides and close gaps in existing knowledge.

"We have to make sure…that we fully understand the landscape and the aquatic environment. And we do this in every project," he said."We're looking at huge swaths of the ocean. There are inevitably data gaps."

State officials said thebenefits of developing offshore windfarms slowing or offsettingthe impacts of climate change by reducing carbon emissions and shifting to renewable energy are expected to outweigh the downsides. Left as they are, those carbon emissions are contributing to rising sea level, increasingflooding andheavierrainfall, according to New Jerseyscientists.

"We have the opportunity to stop that worsening," LaTourette said."That is the opportunity before us and we have to do that in a sound way, in a responsible way."

Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers Brick, Barnegat and Lacey townships as well as the environment. She has worked for the Press for more than a decade. Reach her at @OglesbyAPP, aoglesby@gannettnj.com or 732-557-5701.

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Ocean environmental studies to be paid for in New Jersey by offshore wind developers - Asbury Park Press

Offshore wind is the new darling of the European oil industry. The biggest names in petroleum have amassed gigawatt-scale development pipelines and frequently battle it out for seabed acreage in premium markets in western Europe and North America.

Equinor is leading the pack. The Norwegian oil major expects offshore wind to account for two-thirds of its 1216GW renewables capacity by 2030, and is determined to be a global offshore wind energy major.

That determination is driving European international oil companies (IOCs) into a tight corner. Once-cautious companies that weighed high-risk, high-return global investments on cold-blooded financial metrics appear to be making exuberant green bets that could land them in hot water.

Competition for prime acreage is rife, resulting in some questionable bids. BP faced accusations it overpaid in the UKs latest leasing round. There is a similar scramble to secure 15-year fixed returns enshrined in UK contracts for difference (CfDs) for offshore wind. More generally, CfD auctions frequently clear at the minimum price, as occurred at a recent 1GW Danish tender that saw companies draw lots in a tiebreak.

With clearing prices falling more rapidly than costs, major turbine supplier Siemens Gamesa recently warned that margins have been squeezed too far, hobbling reinvestment in factories and technology improvements. These cannot be deferred forever, which means turbine costs cannot keep falling forever either.

European IOCs now tacitly admit they cannot emulate oil-sized profits from renewables investments. Shell says future upstream oil projects must be profitable at $30/barrel, deliver an internal rate of return (IRR) of 2025% and pay back capital within seven years. As global oil demand returns to pre-pandemic levels, investments made on this basis have a big safety margin.

The bar is set much lower for renewables, in which Shell is investing $2bn3bn each year. The company is targeting an unlevered IRR (i.e. pure equity, no debt) of more than 10%, which it says is made possible by its integrated business model.

A higher margin requirement for oil investments reflects exploration risk and demand uncertainty for crude stemming from decarbonisation policies. Wind might not carry these risks, but much lower margins mean investments carry less fat to absorb contingencies.

This might not matter while wind accounts for a tiny proportion of IOC capital expenditure, but that is set to change. Equinor expects renewables to account for 50% of its capital expenditure by 2030.

Researchers from the University of Stavanger in Norway did the maths for Equinors investment in the 3.6GW Dogger Bank wind farm in the UKs southern North Sea. The megaproject is being financed in three separate 1.2GW chunks co-owned by Equinor (40%), SSE Renewables (40%) and Italys Eni (20%). Each phase will cost a cool 3bn.

The Stavanger researchers found Equinor can expect an IRR of 5.6% after tax in their best estimate central case for Dogger Bank. On a net present value basis, the wind farm comes in at a negative 907m meaning the investment is not worth making for Equinor.

Our estimation, based on the project economics of the Dogger Bank project, is that this activity will be cash negative for a very long time, say researchers Petter Osmundsen, Magne Emhjellen-Stendal and Sindre Lorentzen.

This compares unfavourably with Equinors claim that the project will achieve a nominal equity return of 1216%. This figure includes profits from the sale of 10% project equity to Eni.

Equinor said at its capital markets day in June that unlevered wind IRRs of 48% could be boosted to 1216% by leveraging up projects with cheap debt and selling down big chunks at a premium. Osmundsen challenges this notion.

By gearing up a project you may have higher expected return, but at the same time higher risk and thereby higher rate of return requirement, so the value of your project does not change. This is confirmed by sensitivity calculations we have done for the [Dogger Bank] project. By increasing the debt to 70% [from zero], you get a high variability in equity return.

Osmundsens study concluded that Equinors Dogger Bank investment will not be paid off until a year or two after the CfDs 15-year fixed revenue support ends. The study suggests this could deter lenders, but not everyone agrees.

There is uncertainty around the overall economic life of an offshore wind farm, and the price risk it will face after the 15-year CfD expires. Osmundsen et al assume lots of price cannibalisation and low or negative wholesale prices after a rapid ramp-up of UK wind power in the 2030s. They also assume the turbines will be dismantled after 25 years.

Wind industry sources say Dogger Bank is being developed as a 30-year asset, and that 35 years is starting to be viewed as the norm as technologies improve. The extra operation and maintenance costs of keeping ageing offshore turbines spinning for another five years will be vastly outweighed by the additional revenue from a fully amortised asset, they add. Some claim that holds true regardless of price volatility in a wind-dominated power market.

Aggressively selling down project equity pre and post-construction might keep Equinors renewables investments above water, but those buying in face dismal returns. Enis two Dogger Bank deals will achieve IRRs of just 2.7% and 2.9%, according to the Stavanger researchers. Equinor and SSE will enjoy higher overall margins at Enis expense, which Osmundsens paper describes as a zero-sum game.

There is only so much economic value to go round from investments in cheap offshore wind. Spectacular reductions in auction prices have spawned a misleading narrative that this sector is becoming an attractive investment proposition for oil companies scrambling for a means to reduce emissions, remain relevant and keep ESG investors onside.

Moving early pays off. Sadly, the macro conditions that led to DONG Energys successful reincarnation as rsted no longer exist. Equinor is a laggard by comparison but arrived just in time to cream off value from initial investments in UK offshore wind via project equity sales to Eni.

If Dogger Bank is representative of Enis plans to squeeze value from wind, the Italian oil company faces big problems. The same might hold true for Shell, BP and TotalEnergies; time will tell. For now, their collective push into offshore wind is still gathering steam. Do not be surprised if a few big projects are quietly dropped along the way.

This is an abridged version of an original deep dive first published by the Energy Flux newsletter. Read the full-length original here: https://www.energyflux.news/p/big-oils-painful-offshore-wind-pivot

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Big Oil's painful pivot to offshore wind - Energy Monitor

Chinas largest offshore wind farm was connected to the grid at full capacity on Saturday, December 25. It transmitted power through undersea cables.

The 802 megawatt (MW) Jiangsu Qidong offshore wind farm is off the eastern province of Jiangsu. The wind farm consists of three projects H1, H2, and H3 and each has an offshore booster station.

It covers an area of 44.2 square miles (114.5 square kilometers) and consists of 134 wind turbines. Interestingly, it consists of a mixturehodgepodge of turbines, including seven models from four Chinese manufacturers.

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Jiangsu Qidongs first wind turbine was installed in February of this year, and the last one was installed in early December. The $2.26 billion offshore wind farm was developed and is owned by Jiangsu Huawei Wind Power and Qidong Hua Er Rui Wind Power Technology.

Jiangsu Qidong will supply around 2.2 billion kilowatts per hour of electricity to the grid annually, which is capable of powering around 900,000 households.

As Electrek reported on December 7, China currently has a total of between 10 and 12 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind capacity.

China is expected to install 1,200 GW of total wind and solar capacity by 2026, according to a new report released this week from the International Energy Agency (IEA). Thats four years earlier than the countrys current target of 2030.

According to the IEA, this is the result of the availability of long-term contracts, improved grid integration, and the cost competitiveness of onshore wind and solar PV compared with coal generation in many provinces.

Read more: China leads the world in wind and coal

Photo: SASAC

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Chinas largest offshore wind farm is now fully connected to the grid - Electrek.co

Taiwanese state-owned utility Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) and Foxwell have selected the localised Vestas V174-9.5 MW wind turbines for the 300 MW Taipower Offshore Wind Project Phase II (TPC Changhua Phase II) in Taiwan.

Vestas and Foxwell have now signed supply and service agreements for the project, Alex Robertson, Vestas General Manager for Taiwan, said in a social media post.

In December 2020, Foxwell selected Teras Offshore to transport and install 31 wind turbines at TPC Changhua Phase II.

The TPC Changhua Phase II was one of the eleven offshore wind projectsselectedby the Taiwanese government in April 2018 to be developed by 2025.

The wind farm, located approximately 14.7 kilometres west of Lukang in Changhua County, is expected to come online by September 2025.

Foxwell Energy, an affiliate of Shinfox, won the tender from Taipower for the development of the TPC Changhua Phase II at a total contract cost of TWD 62.88 billion (EUR 2.02 billion) in June 2020. Shinfox is the renewable energy branch of the Foxlink Group.

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Vestas Turbines to Spin on Taiwanese Offshore Wind Farm - Offshore WIND

The 36-month project is led by marine scientist Dr Kay Vopel. He and his team will develop a protocol for monitoring the offshore seafloor and use new tech for non-invasive measurement, laboratory experiments and mathematical modelling. This includes a seafloor lander, with an acrylic chamber that encloses a small area of the seafloor and the overlying seawater. The chamber includes various sensors, which measure changes in the chemistry of the enclosed seawater. These measurements tell researchers if and how the sediment is processing organic fish waste.

Another tripod-shaped lander is used in their project to measure how much oxygen the processing of organic waste consumes. Part of the research is also concerned with the optimisation of the lander technology. Besides various environmental sensors, the two landers are fitted with release transponders, which can send and receive acoustic signals to and from the surface.

The first trial deployments have been done in New Zealands Queens Charlotte Sound to a depth of 82 metres. Once collected, samples of the chamber water are analysed in the laboratory to assess how the microbial processing of fish waste affects the sedimentary nitrogen cycle. Results will be used to develop predictive modelling to support farm management and legislative and policy frameworks.

Placing fish farms in offshore waters provides the benefits of farm waste dispersion, meaning less impact on the seafloor ecosystem. Seafloor sediment has its own microbial ecosystem breaking down organic fish waste, but there is currently no way to detect how much waste is too much waste.

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NZ leads three-year project to assess offshore aquaculture - The Fish Site

A joint offshore wind venture spearheaded by Royal Dutch Shell and Ocean Winds North America has gained approval to build more offshore wind turbines off the New England coast that is expected to generate 400 megawatts.

The new turbines, part of the Mayflower project, will provide energy to Massachusetts three largest utilities. The energy produced by the newly approved turbines can generate enough electricity to power more than a half-million homes and businesses each day, Shell officials said in a statement.

Shell and OW have combined on two other offshore wind projects, approved in 2019, expected to produce 804 megawatts of power.

The announcement comes days after the Hague-based energy company said it plans to acquire solar and battery storage company Savion by the end of the year. The Kansas City-based company has more than 100 projects under development in 26 states capable of producing 18,000 megawatts of renewable power. One megawatt is enough to power about 200 homes on a hot summer day.

This has been a significant week for our company and renewables businesses, said Wael Sawan, Shells Integrated Gas and Renewables & Energy Solutions Director. Announcing a substantial expansion of our global solar portfolio along with this considerable offshore wind contract award showcases Shells progress towards providing zero- and lower-carbon assets and technologies.

On HoustonChronicle.com: The Biden Administration wants to open the Gulf for offshore wind power. Is Texas ready?

The offshore wind venture marks the latest advancement as Shell pivots from its fossil-fuel business and expands its renewable energy portfolio. The company has pledged to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 as it faces increasing investor and government pressures to decarbonize. The company has said it will invest as much as $6 billion annually into renewables, while divesting about $4 billion a year from its oil-and-gas projects.

To that end, the company has set a goal to sell more than 560 terawatts hours of power annually across the world by 2030.

Offshore wind, however, remains an illusive technology.

Only two offshore wind farms are in operation in the United States, producing a combined 42 megawatts. Another 15 projects have reached the permitting phase, and eight states have set goals of developing enough offshore business to produce 39,298 megawatts by 2040, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The Biden Administration has set a goal of helping to develop 30,000 megawatts of offshore wind generation by 2030.

Despite those goals, challenges remain for the burgeoning industry. Offshore wind turbines have yet to face the major stress test of tropical storms, hurricanes and cyclones and building underwater transmission lines from the turbines to shore is also a challenge.

Paul Takahashi contributed to this report.

shelby.webb@chron.com

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Shell gets OK to proceed with offshore wind project off New England - Houston Chronicle

Electricity has started flowing from the Hornsea 2 wind farm, which will become the world's largest offshore wind farm when it is complete. Located off the UK's east coast, it's unlikely to hold the title long, however. The expansion of onshore wind has flattened out, but offshore is very much in the exponential growth phase, and some immense projects are under development and consideration. China's largest offshore wind farm reached full operation a day later.

When complete, Hornsea 2 will consist of 165 Siemens Gamesa wind turbines, each with a peak capacity of 8 MW. Many of those turbines are still to be installed, but the offshore substation and associated equipment for smoothing fluctuations were completed in October, and shortly before Christmas developer rsted announced power had started to flow from the first turbines.

The timing is fortuitous. The possibility that limitations in gas supply could, in combination with a cold winter, cause serious disruptions to electricity networks in the UK and northern Europe has caused anxiety for months. Even a fraction of Hornsea's eventual production will help buffer against that danger. On its first morning, it contributed to wind power providingalmost 50 percent of Britain's electricity.

At 1,320 MW (equal to 1.3 million typical UK homes) Hornsea 2 will take the title of world's largest from the neighboring Hornsea 1, which has smaller but more numerous turbines, for a total capacity of 1,218 MW.

The development coincides with China's largest offshore wind farm, Jiangsu Qidong, being connected to the grid at full capacity on Christmas Day. At a total of 802 MW, Jiangsu Qidong is behind either Hornsea stage, but it is twice the size of the next largest existing offshore wind farm outside northern Europe. Where European and North American wind farms usually standardize by using a single size and make of turbine to save costs, Jiangsu Qidong has gone in the opposite direction, using seven models from four manufacturers.

Neither Hornsea nor Jiangsu Qidong remotely compares to the giant wind farms being developed by Denmark and South Korea, and the more speculative giant off Iceland. Even before those come to fruition, Hornsea's third stage with 2,400 MW soon to start construction will leave them well behind.

Even with operations beginning at these wind farms, offshore wind accounts for less than 10 percent of global wind production. It's also currently more expensive. However, prices are falling faster for offshore, as turbines get larger and experience grows, than for wind developments on land. It is anticipated the next round of UK wind farms, instead of requiring subsidies, will return money to the public. Moreover, with rare exceptions, winds are steadier offshore than on, reducing the intermittency that is now wind's last major disadvantage compared to fossil fuels. In some locations, offshore wind also peaks at different times from onshore, so a mix of the two complements each other.

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World's Largest Offshore Wind Farm Has Officially Started Producing Power - IFLScience