How far out to sea will they be? And how deep?
Most proposals for the UK are at least 5km from the shore. In the near future offshore wind turbines will generally be built in water less than 30m deep. This determines how far off the coast that they are likely to be sited. In some parts of the country this could be much further out than in others.
For example, there is much shallower seabed much further out into the North Sea off Norfolk and around The Wash than around the South West Coast of England and off South Wales. The latter have more precipitous sea beds that mean any developments would be closer to shore.
Another factor is the cost of getting the electricity to shore and the practicality and cost of building and maintaining turbines further out to sea. The further offshore the wind farm, the longer and more expensive the cables needed to plug the electricity into the national grid onshore become for example.
Nevertheless there are advantages further offshore. Wind speeds tend to be higher and the wind is steadier. This means that turbines built further offshore should capture more wind energy. As a result many hope that the challenges will be overcome and that in the future offshore wind farms will be built much further offshore, perhaps even on floating platforms at sea.
Send to a friend | Print all FAQ's - PDF | Back
