A 75% fall in offshore wind turbine deals occurred during the first half of this year, compared to the same period of 2011.
Just one unconditional offer was struck, for 72 Vestas V112-3.0 MW machines. With a combined capacity of 216MW, the turbines will power the Northwind project in Belgian waters, for which full project financing was recently secured.
The number of unconditional offers for offshore wind turbines tends to vary considerably, primarily due to the small number of projects under development. Unconditional offers represent the final stage in what can be a lengthy turbine purchase process.
Speaking with “uåX˜äŠÊ˜·³Ç Offshore, Make Consulting research director, Robert Clover, emphasised that although just a single unconditional offer being secured during H1 could be an early indication of a drop-off in growth for the offshore wind sector, this is unlikely.
"Most of the assets to be installed between now and 2015 have supply contracts in place," said Clover, adding that the offshore wind industry's near-term pipeline could represent as much as 6GW in new capacity. Details of H1 deal flows for both onshore and offshore turbines are due to be published soon by Make.
Data recently published by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) detailed strong growth for the offshore wind industry, with more turbines and foundations being installed in the first half, than ever before.
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