Ecological and economic cost-benefit analysis of offshore wind energy

Wind energy has experienced dramatic growth over the past decade. A small fraction of this growth has occurred offshore, but as the best wind resources become developed onshore, there is increasing interest in the development of offshore winds. Like any form of power production, offshore wind energy...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inRenewable energy Vol. 34; no. 6; pp. 1567 - 1578
Main Authors Snyder, Brian, Kaiser, Mark J.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2009
Elsevier
Subjects
Applied sciences
Cape wind
Coal
Cost estimates
Cost function
Ecological impacts
Economic data
Electric energy
Electric power generation
Energy
Energy economics
Exact sciences and technology
Fossil fuels and derived products
General, economic and professional studies
Natural energy
Offshore
Offshore engineering
Offshore structures
Offshore wind economics
Wind power
Wind power generation
United States
North America
America
USA
Ecological impacts
Cape wind
Offshore wind economics
Economic analysis
Windfarm
Cost benefit analysis
Offshore
Wind energy
Environment impact
Coal
Coal power plant
Electric power production
Comparative study
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Summary:Wind energy has experienced dramatic growth over the past decade. A small fraction of this growth has occurred offshore, but as the best wind resources become developed onshore, there is increasing interest in the development of offshore winds. Like any form of power production, offshore wind energy has both positive and negative impacts. The potential negative impacts have stimulated a great deal of opposition to the first offshore wind power proposals in the U.S. and have delayed the development of the first offshore wind farm in the U.S. Here we discuss the costs and benefits of offshore wind relative to onshore wind power and conventional electricity production. We review cost estimates for offshore wind power and compare these to estimates for onshore wind and conventional power. We develop empirical cost functions for offshore wind based on publicly reported projects from 2000 to 2008, and describe the limitations of the analysis. We use this analysis to inform a discussion of the tradeoffs between conventional, onshore and offshore wind energy usage.
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ISSN:0960-1481
1879-0682
DOI:10.1016/j.renene.2008.11.015