When one works in this field, focused on that week's trees, one tends to miss the forrest.  This EWEA document sums up the tremendous achievement the industry is making.  That Jérôme played such a pioneering role in independent finance of key projects, as well as in bringing new players to the table should not be underestimated.

I'd like to underscore the importance of two of his points.  Cost of finance plays a significant role in determining long-term cost of energy from any plant, and as offshore projects need be large enough to capture economies of scale wherever they can be found, financing costs are even more important here than onshore.

He's written here before of the benefits of public and quasi-public methods of finance to large infrastructure projects; offshore wind is one ultimate example.  That EWEA included the idea in the financing section of the report is telling, especially given J's statement that even large utility players can not finance the entire growth of the industry themselves.

Speculation perhaps, but i'd bet he also played a role in making the EIB comfortable with the industry.  

Another key point highlighted here is that of the infrastructure issues, from construction (laydown yards and harbors, steel and concrete builds, shipping and transport) and installation, down thru the entire creation of a supply chain building components and materials on a scale hitherto not achieved, on out thru the operation and maintenance years.  (Anyone thinking of a career?)

This activity is what creates the economic driver that offshore windpower is and will be more in the near future for much of northern Europe.  And here's a little known fact underscoring the importance of the industry's infrastructure.  When comparing US and European wind turbines and adjusting for wind difference, the performance of US turbines are down several percent and more against the same turbines in Europe.

Such effect is almost entirely the result of Europe having a more developed infrastructure: more complete spare parts depots, less distance, and most importantly, more trained service engineers and technicians.  Bottom line: Less downtime.  If that's true onshore, it is doubly true offshore.  This infrastructure is just reaching adolescence, one can see that increased focus must continue on the technical and financial steps which mature this key portion of the industry.

Offshore turbines are a new breed of technology, on a scale not yet seen before.  It will be some time before the industry reaches the performance standards of the onshore industry.  What's perhaps most profound about such efforts are the thousands of engineers and business persons working to make it happen.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin