US and Denmark sign offshore MoU

UNITED STATES/DENMARK: The governments of Denmark and the US have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to work together on developing the offshore wind industry.

by David Weston 16 May 2016

Denmark has 1.3GW of installed offshore wind capacity; the US has 30MW under construction

The will look at promoting "a mutually beneficial relationship between the participants in the field of offshore wind energy, with a view to sharing knowledge, experiences, data, and best practices".

Denmark has almost 1.3GW of offshore wind, with several projects in development, including Vattenfall's 400MW Horns Rev 3 project, set to be built for a strike price of €103.1/MWh (2015 figures).

The US currently has no installed offshore wind capacity, but the 30MW Block Island project, developed by Deepwater Wind, is currently under construction off the coast of Rhode Island and is expected online by the end of this year. It is expected the US could reach 1GW of installed offshore wind capacity by 2020.

The MoU said neither participant [US or Denmark] has committed funds to the agreement.

The announcement comes a week before the start of the American Wind Energy Association 2016 exhibition and conference in New Orleans.