World Wind Watch | Green Energy News

August 20 2006 – Vol.11 No.22

WORLD WIND WATCH.

The three buzz words in real estate are location, location, location. In the US, and much of the world, ocean view property is considered “location.” And those ocean front owners will do everything in their power to preserve their expansive, often expensive views.

(The Cape Wind project planned for waters off Cape Cod, Massachusetts has been battling ocean view property owners almost since the day the project was announced.)

Yet for wind project developers and wind turbine manufacturers alike the ocean’s strong and reliable breezes are too promising to ignore.

Fortunately if offshore wind technology keeps moving in the direction it is moving - further offshore, to deeper waters, out of sight from land - ignore, ignore, ignore may be the buzz words the wind industry can use when considering ocean front land owners.

Now planted in the Scottish North Sea is the first of two deep water wind turbines. At the Beatrice demonstration project a 5-megawatt REpower Systems turbine has been installed in 144 feet (44 meters) of water more than fifteen miles (25 kilometers) from land. The REpower type 5M is the most powerful turbine installed offshore and in the deepest water of any offshore turbine.

The turbine, complete with tower and 419 foot (127 meter) blades attached, was assembled on shore and carried to the site vertically and installed atop a lattice type structure not unlike an offshore oil rig that was sunk into the sea bed.

A second turbine will be installed shortly. Both will be connected via an undersea cable to the nearby Beatrice Alpha oil rig which is connected to the mainland grid.

REpower considers the project a giant step for the 5M turbine and for offshore wind power.

The Beatrice demonstrator project is part of the DOWNVinD, a research project that is supported by the European Union. Talisman Energy and Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) are the coordinators of the project. REpower is the exclusive turbine supplier. Visit REpower at http://www.repower.de/