However, a mandate for domestic sourcing of 70% of the value-add, combined with a 49% cap on farm ownership and stress on pricing over quality are expected to be major challenges for international market participants in this market.
Hong Kong Offshore Wind Farm Receives Approval
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report on the Proposed Offshore Wind Farm Project Approved
Wind Prospect and CLP welcome the approval of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report on the proposed offshore wind farm project. The approval represents an important milestone to realising renewable energy in Hong Kong.
This marks a conclusion to the efforts Wind Prospect and CLP have put in the environmental assessment. It also signifies that building a commercial scale offshore wind farm of up to 200 MW in the south-eastern waters of Hong Kong is environmentally acceptable.
“With this green light on the environmental front, we will soon move on to the rest of the feasibility study of the project. The next phase of the project is the installation of a wind mast at the proposed site, followed by the collection of on-site wind and wave data. We hope a full business case will be ready for assessment by 2011,” said Mr Alex Tancock, General Manager of Wind Prospect HK Ltd.
“We appreciate the meaningful discussion and valuable feedback from the community. The interest in the project was enthusiastic and the positive response was encouraging. We will continue to listen to views and opinion from the public as our feasibility study progresses,” said Mr Joseph Law, Project Manager – Hong Kong Renewable Energy of CLP Power HK Ltd.
This offshore windfarm is in support of Hong Kong Government’s 1-2% renewable energy (RE) target and calls from the community for RE. The project will provide clean energy for 80,000 households and will avoid over 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide emission every year.
CLP and Wind Prospect organised project briefings and visits to project site for interested groups over past four years to consult their views. A 30-day public consultation on the project’s EIA study ended in early July. Out of about 100 responses CLP received from the public via dedicated project website, 67% expressed support towards the proposed project and believed the move was a good start for Hong Kong.
Wind Prospect began the feasibility study in 2005 and CLP joined as a partner in 2006. This initiative will also contribute to achieving CLP’s voluntary target in its Climate Vision 2050 of increasing the non-carbon-emitting generating capacity in the Group’s portfolio to 20% by 2020.
Global offshore wind farm capacity will grow at a compound annual rate of 32 per cent in the coming decade, according to a new report by energy consulting firm ODS-Petrodata.
The International Offshore Wind Market to 2020 report predicts that by the end of 2020 global offshore wind farm capacity will have soared to 55 gigawatts, or enough to power almost 37 million European homes. Current installed capacity is under two gigawatts.
Based on an analysis of more than 700 projects and prospects in the company’s database, ODS-Petrodata forecasts USD 61.4 billion of capital expenditure in the sector between now and 2014. For 2016 to 2020, total capital expenditure could be double that.
"Although the credit crisis and other constraints have tempered the market, there is clearly a huge business opportunity here," says David Gault, Renewables Manager at ODS-Petrodata. "These are big industrial projects, and it will take lots of equipment, manpower and innovation to get them built. Now is a great time for companies in other sectors, such as offshore oil and gas, to assess whether they can grab a piece of the action."
Bottlenecks in the supply chain are already being relieved by new entrants. Several emerging European manufacturers of offshore-rated turbines will challenge the dominance of Siemens and Vestas in the next few years, and will later be joined by a batch of Asian manufacturers, including South Korean conglomerates such as Hyundai and at least 10 Chinese firms.
ODS-Petrodata’s research on turbine installation vessels indicates that the current shortage of these units could ease quite quickly, if all the vessels currently under construction are delivered on schedule and those in the design phase are built as planned. This will ultimately depend on access to finance, although some potential owners are major civil construction firms with substantial internal resources.
The UK currently leads the way for both installed capacity and projects under construction, but it may experience a lull in activity in 2013 and 2014. Germany will more than take up the slack, and will go on to become the industry’s power house from 2014 onwards. China and the USA will also be very significant players in the longer term.
On June 23rd 2009, the US administration approved five offshore wind projects along the coasts of New Jersey and Delaware. "The majority of the US population lives on the East and West Coasts and Offshore wind energy installations can provide large portions of the energy needed in those densely populated areas," says Annette Bossler, Wind Industry Coordinator at Composite Alliance in Maine and continues, "The Federal Government cleared the way for developers to plant wind farms in offshore waters on the outer continental shelf with new published regulations championed by President Obama. NOW is the opportunity for companies to establish their position in the US off shore wind energy market."
