Current status and future trends of offshore wind power in Europe

• Published in: Energy (Oxford) Vol. 202; p. 117787
• Main Authors: Soares-Ramos, Emanuel P.P., de Oliveira-Assis, Lais, Sarrias-Mena, Raúl, Fernández-Ramírez, Luis M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2020
• Subjects: Current status; Europe; Large-scale; Offshore wind farms; Trends; Trends; Large-scale; Europe; Current status; Offshore wind farms
• ISSN: 0360-5442
• DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2020.117787

A considerable growth of large-scale offshore wind farms (OWF) is noticeable in Europe mainly due to advances in wind turbines and foundation structures, which have improved their economic conditions and contributed to the implementation of offshore plants. It is expected that the installed capacity will continue to increase, since the European Union aims at reaching about 100 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030. OWF have many challenges in terms of cost reduction and technology. Due to these issues, it is important to have a comprehensive understanding of the current situation and the future trends of OWF. This paper analyses the current status and the trends of large-scale OWF with an installed capacity above 150 MW in Europe. The results show the trends on wind turbine size and capacity, turbine model, distance to shore, water depth, investment cost, type of foundation, transmission technology, and voltage array systems among others. This paper gathers the latest information about the topic, deducing future trends from the evaluation of OWF fully commissioned, authorized or under construction. •Analysis of large-scale offshore wind farms in operation or projected in Europe.•New offshore wind farms are being placed away from the coast into deeper waters.•Increasing power and voltage of wind turbines and internal collection systems.•Offshore wind energy costs are decreasing and becoming more competitive.•Direct current is the preferred transmission for long distances to the shore.