With just over 900 Mw of capacity installed currently, Douglas-Westwood expects an additional 3.6 Gw of new capacity to be added during that period.

Capital expenditures on offshore wind power are expected to reach $3.8 billion/year by 2011, Douglas-Westwood director Andrew Reid told delegates at an Aberdeen conference May 24.

Northwestern Europe is the key spending area over the period, with the emergence of wind power markets off the US and China following. The UK is expected to become the largest offshore wind power market, with 1,645 Mw of new capacity forecast for the 5- year period. In Germany, 536 Mw of new capacity is expected to be installed during that time.

Costs for offshore wind development and construction are rising compared with the previous 5 years, and anticipated supply chain constraints are expected to continue pushing costs upward, Reid said.

PIN/OGJ.COM