Danish electricity supplier Elsam plans to invest in offshore wind farms in several European countries. Project Investment Director Flemming Thomsen has been involved in the development of renewable energy projects for a long time.

Wind power is now a mature industry with a growing potential to make a significant impact on the energy scene in Europe, he says. At this stage, Elsam plans to develop farms both onshore and offshore in several European countries, such as the UK, Poland and France. The company plans to invest several million Euro per year in wind-power projects over the coming years.

Elsams Horns Rev offshore wind farm in Denmark, which consists of eighty 2 MW wind turbines, is currently undergoing commissioning and testing. This project represents an investment of approximately EURO 250 million.

Thomsen has an optimistic view of the future and expects to see a lot more wind-energy projects. The EU Directive that recently became law states that 22 per cent of the EUs electricity consumption should be generated by renewable energy sources by 2010. That equals a ten per cent rise compared to today.

With new political incentive schemes being introduced in several European countries, renewable energy sources like wind energy will provide an essential contribution towards fulfilling the commitment to decrease CO2 emissions, says Thomsen.

Both the EU and OECD are moving towards including the cost of pollution in the overall price of electricity. When they do, renewable energy sources will become more competitive.

Wind technology has been developed over the years and has reached a mature stage. The trend now is to develop offshore wind farms. In Europe, nearly a hundred offshore wind farms are currently being planned to come into operation before 2015. Developers of offshore wind farms are often large energy suppliers, such as utility companies or oil and gas companies, as well as pure development companies.

Third party verification
As offshore wind farms involve large investments, type approvals and site-specific project certification will continue to play a role in the future.
We are talking about huge investments, in some cases with governmental funding. I am sure there will be a demand for independent, third party services, says Flemming Thomsen.

Due to the large investments involved in the establishment of offshore wind farms, third party verification services are often required by investors and insurance companies.Several national authorities also require project certification. "The verification services contribute positively during the project design phase, minimising the costs of design changes," says DNV's Peter Petersen.

For offshore wind farms, however, no international standard exists.
"Together with the Danish authorities, we have contributed to the development of a design recommendation, and a number of offshore wind farms in Sweden and Denmark have used this as a foundation. The design recommendation has also been accepted by the German authorities," he explains.

Market leader
DNV offers project certification services throughout Europe and has become a market leader. Recently German wind farm developer Prokon Nord signed a promising frame agreement with DNV.

Three of the world's biggest wind turbine manufacturers are based in Denmark and cover 50 per cent of the world market. Besides, some of the first and biggest offshore wind farms were built in Denmark.
"DNV Denmark therefore has a good basis for providing its clients with project certification services, backed by the whole DNV network," says Petersen, and adds: "Wind is a limitless resource it will be the fuel of the future."