Professor Dieter Helm, an economist from the University of Oxford, told the BBC he doubted a large expansion in offshore wind power was affordable. He said: "Offshore wind is one of the very few things that makes nuclear power look cheap."
See 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
For offshore, worst case would be whatever the ship was carrying which foundered into the array.
He does have half a point about the economics, but we already have a track record of lowering prices significantly as the technology matures, unlike...
Though, while there have been no documented cases yet, we are all afraid that one of the offshore turbines will get jealous of the one-horned goats the onshore turbines get to eat, and will spring his mooring and run to shore, hungrily sweeping civilization aside in his quest to eat and destroy.
I'm certain the producers of Godzilla would green-light this. "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
I wasn't overtly sarcastic but I did mention railways and roads and aircraft keep to the Fen Causeway
how is windfarm history, regarding buildcost over-runs? ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
The biggest problem with onshore was not cost over-runs, but production over-estimation. No longer a problem in mature markets because the wind is so well known, it can still be a ringer in emerging markets. Earlier it could be as much as 20% low, averaging 10%. Now, close to spot on.
Offshore is too young not to have cost over-runs, but that too is changing. "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
dealing with people of business acumen, though of course financially motivated, also have future generations' well-being under consideration, is also more likely to be managed by people whose word the people can trust.
pushing the nuke industries' mendaciousness hasn't worked that well... maybe it's time to accentuate the positive! ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
The REpower turbines at the Ormond site (in the video) are older 5MW machines (though just now commissioned), but one gets a good sense of where the technology is going. The 5M has a standard power train, with a gearbox. They are the same turbines which have been used in previous projects financed by the ET founder.
Of course, i most enjoyed the interview with the engineer, describing the work and the provisions for three days if you get stuck out there.
Danke for posting, Helen. "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
After all, we don't plan to camp out on the turbine, do we?
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- Jake If you only spend 20 minutes of the rest of your life on economics, go spend them here.
Depending on the subsea soil/rock configuration and the turbine weight and type (and harmonics), there are currently several optimal foundation designs, with more coming. "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
Thought you should see one of the thousand details. She's marking surface irregularities. Degrades performance of the airfoil, resulting in less Megawatt hours. Will be retouched before shipping.
That's an onshore blade, 43+ meters. The article itself doesn't even come close. We're in a high-risk period, though signs do show improvement. "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
