TOPIC 'Wind Power' on Dec 09, 2009 (CET)
Europe is working on offshore wind energy supergrid
While the United Nations are discussing the future of the Earth and the climate change, nine countries in Europe have decided to make the first step toward a large offshore wind energy project.
Monday the countries announced the project to be started next year and to be the largest project for offshore wind energy that has ever been planned so far. This is one large step for Europe toward fulfilling the goal of having 20 percent of the energy to be renewable energies by 2020.
The countries involved with the “North Seas Countries’ Offshore Grid Initiative” are Denmark, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Luxembourg and Ireland.
This new super grid will not only supply Europe with a large amount of energy but it will also allow the electricity to be sold on a wide market.
The head of the Danish national grid Energinet Erik Kristofferson said that the project will incourage other offshore wind projects and enable other offshore grids to connect to one large system. “We’re in the first phase now of something that could be quite huge,” he said. “The benefit is that you would be able to send the electricity where it is needed and when it is needed.” Kristofferson hat to admit though that the size of the project and the money that would have to be submitted is at the moment not measurable.
At the moment Europe receives 0.3 percent of its energy due to the use of offshore wind power. Across Europe many different offshore projects have sprung up making a total of 100 gigawatts of offshore wind in the making.
Jason Grace
on behalf of the
BascoTec Internet Limited
Technologie Park 13
33100 Paderborn
Germany
TAGS: wind energy, offshore wind, offshore wind energy, north seas, denmark wind, wind rotors, climate change, copenhagen climate change, energy project, renewable energy project, ,
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