The updated guide to an offshore wind farm helps companies and individuals develop a greater understanding of the components and processes involved in the development of offshore wind farms that will be built up to 2035, and in doing so help them realise the opportunities that will arise.
This updated guide to an offshore wind farm details the process and technologies involved in fixed offshore wind projects. It is accompanied by The Guide to Floating Offshore Wind, which focusses on floating technologies. There is no single way to build and operate an offshore wind farm and much depends on the specific conditions at the site. The pace of innovation in the wind industry has been rapid over the past decade; however, up to 2035, we can be reasonably confident of the technologies that will be deployed.
An important uncertainty is turbine size because although manufacturers are working on designs that will ultimately stretch capacities to greater than 15 MW, the timing of their introduction is a complex commercial decision. Projects vary considerably in their size and their distance from shore.
For the purposes of the updated guide to an offshore wind farm, we have assumed a 1 GW project of 67 15 MW turbines located 80 km from shore in 50 m water depth and commencing operation in 2030.