European offshore heats up

So now it’s getting serious. The UK offshore market – the European hot topic – suddenly has two major manufacturers vying for the limelight and a slice of the pie.

This is cracking news for the industry and just in time too. What with all the fanciful talk of 20MW turbines at EWEA a couple of weeks back, conference delegates were starting to wonder whether everyone had gone completely mad.

Now, with Vestas having introduced 163 metre blades and skyscraper-like towers, it would appear that that isn’t the case at all!

In all seriousness though, the fight that’s brewing up between the two European heavyweights – Siemens and Vestas should be applauded. For an industry that thrives on competition, it is just the catalyst that we need. Now all we are looking for is the commitment from customers and some further clarity from government on the specifics of these much talked about European offshore incentives.