Review of early operation of UK Round 1 offshore wind farms

The UK Government plans that offshore wind power should play a major part in meeting the UK's renewable energy and carbon emission targets by 2020. The pioneer UK Round 1 offshore wind farm projects, based on sites let in 2001, were supported by the UK Department of Trade and Industry's “Offshore Wind Capital Grants Scheme”. This paper reviews the economic and operational performances of those farms based on published reports available for the early period 2004-2007. UK Round 1 offshore wind farms have achieved an average Cost of Energy of £69 per MWh, in line with expectations, but at 80.3% the average availability has fallen short of expectations. The availabilities have been shown to decrease with increasing wind speed. Improving the availabilities at high wind speeds is key to meet the more ambitious economic targets, particularly for future Rounds 2 and 3.