In the UK, 2010 got off to a superb start for the wind power industry. Crown Estate has announced the nine successful bidder consortia for Round 3 of the offshore wind farm licencing. As administrative body for Crown property, it is also the official agency for awarding offshore projects.
There are certain technology challenges which have waited in vain over several decades for a satisfactory solution. The economical storage of electricity is one of them. But intensive work in the meantime is driving advances along various avenues.
The US wind power market has put on a breathtaking turn of speed in the last few years. And now, the incentives have been improved and the supply chain strengthened.
The current turbulence on the market does not change the basically positive trends in solar energy if we can believe the latest sustainability study conducted by Sarasin. Nonetheless, change is afoot.
