Wind Energy News  
WIND DAILY
Europe and China operate the largest number of offshore wind farms
by Staff Writers
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Aug 15, 2022

"Offshore wind turbines are an important building block for greenhouse-gas-neutral energy production and at the same time support national efforts for self-sufficient energy production independent of coal and natural gas. They also have the advantage of being constructed at locations where high and steady wind speeds prevail," says Claudia Kunzer, Head of the Land Surface Dynamics Department at DFD.

The European Union (EU), China and the United Kingdom (UK) operate the largest number of offshore wind farms in the world. This information is the result of an analysis of satellite data by the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR). The researchers used Artificial Intelligence (AI) to determine not only the number and locations of the plants, but also the developments over the past few years, the output and the emergence of new plants.

In June 2021, 3267 offshore wind turbines were in operation in China, 3096 in the EU and 2378 in the UK. Worldwide, 8885 turbines were in operation. The EU was ahead in terms of capacity - the offshore wind turbines in the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Irish Sea and in the Atlantic off the coast of Portugal had total capacity of 15.2 gigawatts. Chinese plants amounted to 14.1 gigawatts at the time, and the UK's to 10.7 gigawatts.

"Together, that is approximately 98.5 percent of the world's installed offshore wind power capacity of 40.6 gigawatts in June 2021," explains Thorsten Hoser of the German Remote Sensing Data Center (Deutsches Fernerkundungsdatenzentrum; DFD) in Oberpfaffenhofen. By comparison, the three nuclear power plants currently still in operation in Germany have a total installed capacity of 4.3 gigawatts.

Expansion of offshore wind energy
"A look at the development over time reveals that China's entry into the offshore wind energy sector and the construction of offshore wind farms in Chinese waters in particular have influenced the expansion dynamics," says Hoser.

According to the data collected, 627 new turbines were under construction off the Chinese coast in the middle of last year. Off the EU coasts, 63 turbines were under construction. Seven existing offshore wind farms were counted off the coasts of the USA. The evaluation did not address land-based wind power plants.

"Offshore wind turbines are an important building block for greenhouse-gas-neutral energy production and at the same time support national efforts for self-sufficient energy production independent of coal and natural gas. They also have the advantage of being constructed at locations where high and steady wind speeds prevail," says Claudia Kunzer, Head of the Land Surface Dynamics Department at DFD.

"In 1991, the world's first wind farm was constructed off the Danish coast. Since then, the number of offshore wind turbines has been steadily increasing in Germany, in Europe and worldwide." The German government as well as the EU and United Kingdom are currently working to expand offshore wind energy.

Using artificial intelligence to analyse global satellite data
The analysis of satellite images makes it possible for the first time to obtain a global overview of the offshore wind energy sector. Time series from the European Space Agency (ESA) Sentinel-1 radar satellite, acquired since 2016, were used for the evaluation. The Sentinel-1 mission is characterised by repeated image acquisitions with a revisit time of just a few days.

The researchers at DFD have developed algorithms that use AI techniques - specifically machine learning - to automatically detect offshore wind turbines in the extensive Sentinel-1 data archive. This archive provided more than 11 petabytes of data in 2021. A neural network was trained with examples to recognise wind turbines.

"The training examples needed to be diverse in order to present the neural network with a wide range of scenarios during learning," explains Thorsten Hoser, who led the analysis of the data. Part of the research work dealt with the creation of the examples. They describe the characteristic properties of a satellite image. Then the image properties are recombined to create tens of thousands of completely new virtual training images. This approach is transferable to other objects. In this way, other objects besides offshore wind turbines can be extracted from global satellite data archives in the future.

Editor's Note: Detailed supporting images and charts about this article can be viewed here at DLR


Related Links
German Remote Sensing Data Center
Wind Energy News at Wind Daily


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


WIND DAILY
A new method boosts wind farms' energy output, without new equipment
Boston MA (SPX) Aug 12, 2022
Virtually all wind turbines, which produce more than 5 percent of the world's electricity, are controlled as if they were individual, free-standing units. In fact, the vast majority are part of larger wind farm installations involving dozens or even hundreds of turbines, whose wakes can affect each other. Now, engineers at MIT and elsewhere have found that, with no need for any new investment in equipment, the energy output of such wind farm installations can be increased by modeling the wind flow ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

WIND DAILY
NATO says 'urgent' need to inspect Ukraine nuclear plant

Russia says 'no heavy weapons' deployed at Ukraine nuclear plant

China reconnects nuclear reactor after shutdown due to damage

Ukraine nuclear operator reports cyberattack on its website

WIND DAILY
Eco-friendly solar cells improve efficiency by resolving defects

Colorful solar panels could make the technology more attractive

Building blocks of the future for photovoltaics

Cheaper, changing and crucial: the rise of solar power

WIND DAILY
Turning fish waste into quality carbon-based nanomaterial

Brazilian scientists reveal method of converting methane gas into liquid methanol

MSU researchers create method for breaking down plant materials for earth-friendly energy

Solar-powered chemistry uses CO2 and H2O to make feedstock for fuels, chemicals

WIND DAILY
Oil prices fall but inflation stays high

Oil majors' climate visions 'inconsistent' with Paris targets

Net zero, Russia war driving nascent hydrogen economy

New photocatalyst boosts water splitting efficiency for clean hydrogen production

WIND DAILY
China factories ration power as heatwave sends demand soaring

Chinese city dims lights in heatwave power crunch

US lawmakers pass landmark climate, health plan in big win for Biden

Five million in southwest China face power cuts in heatwave

WIND DAILY
Researchers develop new faster charging hydrogen fuel cell

China's CATL to build battery plant in Hungary

Surrey's prototype battery only needs seconds of sunlight to keep smart wearables charged

Fusion simulation code developed to project fusion instabilities in TAE

WIND DAILY
Power shift for Mumbai's double-decker buses

Has the SMART Tire Company created the ultimate bicycle tire

EU says US tax credits for electric cars 'discriminatory'

California regulator accuses Tesla of false advertising

WIND DAILY
Food production impacting Earth and its natural processes

Drought declared in several parts of England

Premature harvests latest test for French winemakers

Brazil farmers bet on environmentally friendly cotton









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.