Crown estate launches interactive map of UK’s offshore wind system

One of the UK’s largest property owners, the Crown Estate, has launched an interactive map of the country’s offshore wind system. The interactive map draws together a range of publicly available data to show the approximate percentage share of the country’s electricity currently being generated by offshore wind.

The map displays all 27 wind farms, which contain nearly 1,500 turbines, and can be broken down to show individual wind farms, their capacity, operator, number of turbines, and the wind farm’s current output. And for those with a more meteorological bent, the map also displays the wind speed and direction.

“The UK has more offshore wind turbines installed than the rest of the world put together and remains the most attractive country to invest in globally, but its success as a UK infrastructure story is not well known,” said Huub den Rooijen, Director of Energy, Minerals and Infrastructure. “We hope this map will inspire greater understanding of this sector, which is on course to meet 10 per cent of the UK’s electricity demand by 2020 and is already making a significant contribution to a secure, low carbon energy mix for the UK.”

The UK’s offshore wind industry is leading the world in terms of deployment, surpassing 10 GW currently planned, under construction, or in operation. The 10 GW mark was broken after announcements were made by DONG Energy and Siemens at the end of October for the 660 MW Walney Extension Offshore Wind Farm.

“The UK is the number one destination for offshore wind investors,” said said Dr Gordon Edge, RenewableUK’s Director of Policy for Economics and Regulation at the time. “This week’s two major announcements of offshore wind projects achieving financial close, securing billions of pounds in investment, show that it remains an attractive place to do offshore business.”

This, despite recent modifications to the UK’s energy policy which is set to see the country focus more on gas-fired energy. Thankfully, as part of the UK’s energy policy “reset” announced earlier this month by the country’s Energy Secretary, Amber Rudd, offshore wind will continue to receive the Government’s support “if, and only if, the Government’s conditions on cost reduction are met.” 

http://cleantechnica.com/2015/11/27/crown-estate-launches-interactive-map-uks-offshore-wind-system/