Global offshore wind turbine market was valued at
USD28.20 billion in 2021 and is anticipated to project robust growth in the
forecast period with a CAGR of 13.75% due to high investment and development in
the power industry.
A
wind turbine is a device that converts wind kinetic energy into electricity.
Wind turbines are implemented in water bodies to generate electricity from the
wind over open water, called offshore wind turbines. Wind turbine blades turn
between 13 and 20 revolutions per minute, depending on technology, at a
constant or variable velocity, with the rotor's velocity varying about the
wind's velocity to achieve greater efficiency. Further, owing to the larger
structures and complex logistics of installing the towers, offshore wind turbines
are capital-intensive and are significantly more expensive to build than
onshore wind farms. The data collected by the vane and anemometer positioned at
the top automatically aligns the wind turbine to fully use the wind's kinetic
energy.
Adoption
of Sustainable Development Driving Market Growth
Rising
concerns about climate change encourage individuals, commercial and government
setups to adopt alternatives that generate cleaner energy with no or lesser
carbon emissions. Offshore wind turbines harness wind energy and convert
mechanical energy into electrical energy. In the complete process, no carbon
emission is recorded; thus, energy generation from wind turbines is deemed a
cleaner fuel. Thus, the energy produced through offshore wind turbines acts as
a catalyst to promote sustainable development and fulfill future generation
demands.
Increasing Investments in Renewable Energy Boosting
Market Demand
The demand for oil and gas firms to adjust their
investment plans to the requirements of clean energy transitions is
intensifying. This includes agreements to minimize oil and gas emissions or
invest in new sectors such as clean power or sustainable fuels. Innovation in
the energy business is nothing new; energy use has evolved throughout history.
Recent evidence of this trend in the United States includes a loss in coal use
and a decrease in oil demand, while renewable sources such as wind, solar,
geothermal, and hydropower have gained market share. The U.S. Energy Information
Administration (EIA) projects that renewable energy is expected to account for
28% of the world's energy consumption by 2050, up from 15% in 2018. Thus,
global emphasis on renewable energy is expected to boost the global offshore
wind turbine market.
R&D in Offshore Wind Turbines and Power Industry
Over
the years, industry professionals have collaborated to reduce the entire
capital expenditure connected with offshore wind farms and optimize
manufacturing efficiency to realize economies of scale. The major firms in the
worldwide offshore wind turbine market are doing research and development
related to the increasing size of turbine blades, which would increase the
efficiency of wind turbines. The increasing size of the wind turbine blade
enhances the power production capacity of each wind turbine. It minimizes the
total number of wind turbines required to achieve the desired energy output
from a wind farm. Increasing the wind turbine size may decrease the project's
total capital cost. Another instance reflecting an emphasis on R&D is the
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) approved USD20.5 million for collaboration to
perform research and development (R&D) to solve technology impediments and
reduce offshore wind costs and hazards in the United States. The National
Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium is a non-profit
public-private partnership dedicated to advancing offshore wind technology in
the United States through high-impact research projects and cost-effective and
responsible development that maximizes economic benefits.
Green Hydrogen Production
The offshore wind turbine is
utilized to produce environmentally friendly hydrogen. In several projects, the
offshore wind turbine produces environmentally friendly hydrogen. For example,
as part of the AquaVentus/AquaDuctus project, Shell, Gasunie, RWE, CASCADE,
Equinor, Ørsted, and Boskalis use 10 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy to
make green hydrogen, which is intended to bring to Europe via pipeline. It is
projected that a growing preference for environmentally friendly hydrogen will
drive the market for offshore wind turbines. The growing interest in
environmentally friendly forms of energy has put pressure on governments and
energy businesses (mainly oil and gas companies) to give serious thought to
alternative forms of power that are both environmentally friendly and efficient
in terms of energy use.