Wind Power Seen Surging as Custom Barges Cut Set-up Costs

[Dead_Parrot]

Offshore wind-power producers from Dong Energy A/S to RWE AG (RWE) are building custom ships at record rates to reduce the cost of the technology that’s three times as pricey as electricity from coal plants.

As many as 20 vessels, some with movable legs that reach the seafloor, will come onto the market in the next few years, reducing chartering costs of as much as 200,000 euros ($261,000) a day, said Marc Seidel, an offshore engineer at Suzlon Energy Ltd. (SUEL), which supplies wind turbines to Germany’s RWE.

A lack of specialized installation ships has forced companies to hire barges designed for oil exploration, holding up work at projects such as EON AG’s Robin Rigg wind farm off Scotland’s western coast. The British government estimates that offshore wind may contribute more than 35 billion pounds ($55 billion) to the economy by 2050 if costs are cut quickly enough.

“Having these vessels is the difference between being able to build the projects that we’re all looking at today and not,” Paul Coffey, chief operating officer of RWE’s Innogy unit, said by telephone from Swindon, England. “They allow you to operate in higher water depths, in more inclement water conditions. They allow you to get the job done faster and more safely.”

More: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-04-09/wind-power-seen-surging-as-custom-barges-cut-set-up-costs

[NYC_SKP]

1. That's where the best wind is, right off shore.

Unfortunately, there's still a LOT of resistance in California to doing ANYTHING offshore, even good clean renewable energy projects.