The economic situation of the last few years has impacted many sectors of business, including renewable energy. Despite the economy, renewable energy has managed to grow, albeit not flourish. Many renewable projects are still facing problems gaining investments and banking support.
The situation is expected to continue as no one can say for sure how long the economic situation of late will last. Investors and banking institutions are beginning to increase their contribution to renewable projects after some slower years. Despite some economic woes, offshore wind in Europe is still continuing to grow.
As of the end of June 2011, the European Union had a total offshore wind capacity of 3,294 megawatts. This capacity was spread across forty-nine wind farms and 1,247 wind turbines. Overall, nine European countries currently have offshore wind energy generated in their waters.
Contributing to that total is a 4.5 percent increase in installations in the first six months of 2011 compared to the first six months of 2010. A total of 101 offshore wind turbines have been installed in the first six months, contributing approximately 348 megawatts of energy. These installations were made in the United Kingdom, Germany and Norway. These statistics were courtesy of the European Wind Energy Association.
Many more offshore wind farms are also under construction in the EU, with varying expected completion dates. Eleven offshore wind farms are currently being built across the EU, with an expected energy capacity of 2,844 megawatts. These new wind farms will nearly double the total offshore wind energy capacity as of June 2011.
