Winds of Change: The Rise in Offshore Power

July 20, 2011 - PRLog -- Construction IQ: What is your view on the current Wind Energy market?  

F Teller: From a developer point of view the turbine supply chain is maturing. After a period with strong marked growth, most vendors are now consolidating and are actively working to improve the performance of their product line. Experience from construction, maintenance and operation seems to be fed back into improvements in design, robustness and simplification. Most vendors have good systems for systematic experience transfer and we should see enhanced product competition in the coming years. Another very positive trend is the increasing number of new and larger designs being released for commercial use. The UK round 3 block releases from the TCE seem attractive to the WTG vendors.

The installation supply chain is also evolving very positively. Several new specialised transport and installation vessels have been constructed and comissioned. The installation capacity per vessel is increasing, as well as the capacity for the total fleet. However, larger and more complicated vessels require increased day rates, which again puts pressure on the developers to have a high utilisation during the contracting period. The cost may for instance become more sensitive towards unplanned delays.

An industry challenge which will become even more visible in the years to come is the availability of grid capacity. A high momentum in project developments where several countries indicate ambitious plans, can not proceed successfully without a similar strong focus on improving grid and transfer capacities.

Construction IQ: Can you give me some background regarding your current wind farm projects?  


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The Offshore Wind Farms: Construction & Installation 2011 event will be hosted in London from 13th to 15th September. For more details, please visit the website: www.offshorewindconstruction.com, call freephone: 0800 652 2363 or email: enquire@iqpc.co.uk.