‘Very robust’ offshore wind industry expected over next 10 years: WoodMac

摘要

“A very robust” offshore wind industry is expected to develop over the next 10 years, a Wood Mackenzie analyst said in a webinar Tuesday, but other industry observers said they foresee regulatory and economic challenges delaying project development. Wood Mackenzie has forecast 23 GW of offshore wind to be built through 2029, said Dan Shreve, the consultancy’s head of global wind energy research, during Greentech Media’s North American Offshore Wind Market Outlook webinar. Furthermore, Wood Mackenzie foresees “upside growth opportunity” in that the federal lease program could accommodate 29 GW, and growing renewable portfolio standards and offshore wind carveouts could result in 34 GW built by 2035. However, Kieran Kemmerer, a power market analyst at S&P Global Platts Analytics, said “the largely untested process in developing US offshore wind from design to completion” causes his organization to expect delays – four to five years on Dominion Energy’s 2.6 GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, for example. In contrast, Wood Mackenzie’s forecast calls for the Virginia projects to be brought online as scheduled by the end of 2026.