Race for 18MW-plus turbines adds risk

The race for 18MW-plus offshore wind turbines is creating unsustainable insurance risks for developers and investors, an insurance underwriter has warned.

GCube has today published a report, 'Vertical Limit: When is bigger not better in offshore wind's race to scale?', that analysed offshore wind claims data from the last ten years to assess the impact of rapid increases in the headline capacity of new offshore turbine models.

It said 55% of insurance claims were due to component failures during construction in 8MW-plus offshore turbines; that average offshore wind losses have grown from £1m in 2012 to over £7m in 2021; and that a 'long tail' of of claims is yet to emerge as turbine makers push to roll out bigger machines faster.