Abstract
The German government aims to obtain at least 40 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. One of the central steps to reach this target is the construction of deep sea offshore wind farms. The paper presents a material intensity analysis of the offshore wind farms Alpha Ventus and Bard Offshore I under consideration of the grid connection. An additional onshore scenario is considered for comparison. The results show that offshore wind farms have higher resource consumption than onshore farms. In general, and in respect to the resource use of other energy systems, both can be tagged as resource efficient.
Highlights
Considering the growing energy demand, environmental problems and rising prices of raw materials, higher resource efficiency in the energy sector is called for
About one half of the wind energy will be supplied by offshore wind farms [2]—most of them placed in Resources 2013, 2 the deep sea [3]
This study shows that the analyzed wind farms are a very resource efficient alternative to generate electricity
Summary
Considering the growing energy demand, environmental problems and rising prices of raw materials, higher resource efficiency in the energy sector is called for. About one half of the wind energy will be supplied by offshore wind farms [2]—most of them placed in Resources 2013, 2 the deep sea [3]. The second wind farm, “Bard Offshore 1” (WFBO1), will be the republic’s first commercial deep sea wind farm, scheduled to be fully operational by the beginning of 2014 and has, to the knowledge of the authors, not been subjected to a life cycle analysis before. Both wind farms are equipped with similar 5 MW wind turbines, but differ regarding their overall amount of turbines and their grid connection.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
