Analysis by the Energy Technologies Institute has found that floating wind technology has the potential to produce energy at a cost of less than £85 per MWh from the mid 2020’s.
This represents a competitive price against even the lowest costs for low carbon energy.
The ETI’s latest research finds that floating offshore wind could deliver safe low carbon energy for the UK from the mid 2020’s.
ETI’s latest insights report shows that with further use of technology and supply chain development there is a clear way to deliver commercial offshore wind farms.
However, to deliver the energy at such a low price, offshore wind requires access to good quality wind resource, which is close enough to land that transmission, operational and maintenance costs are minimised.
Floating offshore wind technology can help to open up other commercially viable sites close to the shore but in deeper waters. Currently these are not available because of the limits in depth to which fixed foundations can be used.
ETI Manager Stuart Bradley, author of the report said: “UK wind resources are abundant and are already being exploited, with the country having the world’s highest offshore wind capacity. Developing floating technology can provide access to additional high quality wind resources in deeper waters, relatively close to the UK shoreline and near centres of population which will help bring costs down further.
“In water depths of less than 30m traditional fixed foundations will be the prime solution, but, in water depths over 50m floating foundations provide the lowest cost solution so a mix of these technologies is likely to offer the lowest cost pathway to deliver mass deployment in UK waters.”
Image: Floating offshore wind turbine (Demowfloat)
