Despite a buoyant European offshore wind market, offshore construction & installation contractors that fall short of budget and technology challenges risk falling by the wayside. Utility scale developers at the forefront will be seeking out only companies capable of providing and meeting the necessary challenges imposed on the industry today.
With a total of 2,396 megawatts of offshore wind capacity already connected to the European grid (333 of which came in the first half of 2010 alone) it’s plain to see that Europe is at the forefront of the industry’s development. And with further projects in the pipeline from the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and most recently France, it’s clear that Europe will continue to be the largest offshore wind energy producing region in the world for years to come.
The excitement surrounding new offshore constructions has also been furthered by positive noises from the new coalition government, leaving only the present economic conditions to unnerve developers. However, Justin Wilkes, Director of Policy at EWEA said that “despite the financial crisis offshore wind continues to be a major growth industry”, emphasizing that “projects led by utilities are less affected thanks to their ability to fund investments from their balance sheets”.
What’s obvious in such a buoyant market is that offshore construction & installation contractors that fall short of the budget challenges and technology challenges will fall by the wayside. With utility scale developers at the forefront, they’ll be seeking out only companies capable of providing and meeting the necessary challenges imposed on the industry today.
RWE Innogy, Vattenfall Wind Power, Mainstream Renewable Power, London Array Ltd, A2SEA and many more leading offshore wind industry companies will meet this October in London to discuss, debate and appraise the latest offshore construction and installation strategies to reduce costs, optimize efficiency, and improve overall ROI.
This offshore critical conference has already drawn over 150 wind professionals from across the industry and continues to grow day by day.
The direct focus of the event will be on successful farshore, deepwater installation and construction strategies. The agenda focuses on providing best practice steps to recruiting and training a fully compliable H&S workforce that will ensure construction excellence and a positive growth of offshore wind farms for years to come.
A select range of utilities, developers, manufacturers, contractors, port owners, vessel suppliers, R&D experts, consultants and service providers are gearing up to debate and discuss these key topics at the 2nd annual offshore wind construction, installation and commissioning conference.
( prweb )
[mappress]
Source: prweb, September 06, 2010;