New podcast: The Wind Power news review
New podcast: The Wind Power news review | Windpower Monthly
Today, Windpower Monthly launches a brand new podcast format to complement our regular episodes exploring the issues in the wind industry today.
This time in the news review: Did we dream too big on offshore wind and will inflation force the industry – and policymakers - to recalibrate pricing or deployment targets?
The Contract for Difference mechanism was once seen as the gold standard but is it still fit for purpose in the current inflationary environment, especially after the failed CfD auction in the UK?
And the trouble at Siemens Gamesa. The turbine manufacturer and its parent company face serious challenges but is there a point at which its financial losses become unsustainable - and who is best-placed to lead it back to profitability?
For this episode, we’re joined by our panelists Shashi Barla - director and head of research in renewable energy at the Brinkman Group – and by Will Sheard - director of analysis and due diligence at the consultancy firm K2 Management.
To listen, simply click on the 'play' button in the graphic above, or follow and download Wind Power on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other platforms.
This episode was produced by Czarina Deen.
To listen to previous episodes, click on the links below:
Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.