shape #19
Growth of Offshore Wind Energy Global energy demand is now increasing at its fastest pace ever and this trend does not look to be slowing. Currently, this additional demand is met largely through energy produced by fossil fuels, but there is a growing awareness of the need to reduce global carbon emissions. To date, most clean energy is produced from hydropower dams; however, this is set to change with wind energy experiencing strong growth and advancements. In the USA, according to North American Windpower, wind turbines have already overtaken hydropower dams as the largest single source of clean energy. The majority of current wind power is produced by onshore turbines as they are initially cheaper to build and maintain, and energy is more easily transmitted. However, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), offshore wind energy is experiencing strong growth, up 32% in 2017 and a further 20% in 2018 with strong results forecast for the following 5 years. According to the Global Wind Report 2018, the total worldwide offshore wind power capacity was 18.8 gigawatts (GW) which represents around 4% of the total 591 GW produced from wind power in 2018. By 2025 the share is expected to exceed 10% with the total offshore wind power potentially reaching 100 GW. 8
UK as a pioneer in offshore wind To date, the United Kingdom has been a key driver for offshore wind farms as it is surrounded by favourable shallow waters and consistent wind. Currently, five of the seven highest production wind farms are based here with the largest, Walney Extension, producing 659 megawatts (MW). This is however soon set to be eclipsed by both the Hornsea Wind Farm and Dogger Bank Wind Farm.
Walney offshore wind farm
The Hornsea Wind Farm is currently under construction in the North Sea off the coast of England. The farm is being split into 4 subzones with each producing between 1-2 GW of power for a maximum supply of 6 GW. Construction of the first zone started in January 2018, with the first turbines sup-
