Standardizing offshore wind equipment and producing larger volumes of the same turbine designs could cut the cost of generating electricity from North Sea wind farms by as much as 28% by 2050, Renewables Now reported on Tuesday, citing a study led by Norwegian assurance firm DNV.
DNV worked with eight companies across Europe's offshore wind supply chain to model costs between 2025 and 2050 under three scenarios.
If the industry continues largely as it does today, costs would fall about 5% by 2035. Producing existing turbine designs in larger volumes and for longer periods could cut costs by about 14% by 2035 and 25% by 2050. If the industry maintains a high and steady pace of building and installing offshore wind turbines, the reduction could reach about 19% by 2035 and 28% by 2050.
"Steadier demand and longer production runs can make better use of existing capacity and show where investment is needed," said Ditlev Engel, CEO of Energy Systems at DNV.
DNV said Europe currently has enough manufacturing capacity to meet near-term demand for turbines of around 15 megawatts. But if turbine deployment accelerates significantly, ports and equipment used to install turbines could become bottlenecks.
The report said the biggest near-term risk is an inconsistent flow of offshore wind projects, which could discourage companies from investing in additional manufacturing and installation capacity.