Entire world powered by one single wind farm?

Yup. The idea has even been published in the Independent. I mean, there’d naturally be some considerations, a few logistical hurdles to jump over but the fact remains – it could work. You just need to find a space the size of India that wouldn’t get in anyone’s way first and convince all the powers that be to get behind you on this utterly bonkers idea.

Back to reality for a moment, and there’s good news coming from Europe. Confidence is growing technological advancements, as the UK unveils plans for a development zone.

Made up of parts in the Irish Sea, the southern North Sea, Dogger Bank and off the coast of East Anglia and North Wales, this will be the UK’s fourth offshore wind leasing round. The Crown Estate, which is in charge of seafloor leasing, has identified four other areas for future consideration.

Developers are optimistic that they can exceed the previous depth limit of 50m, as they vie to win contracts for depths of 60m using fixed-foundation turbines. It could increase capacity from 6 to 7 GW.

A hop, skip and a jump away in France (where not so long ago the government massively chopped away at subsidies for wind farms), ten companies have been selected to advance into the next stage of the tender for 500 MW of wind capacity. EDF and Engie have both confirmed they’re happy to proceed for less than the original offer – down to €150 from €200/MwH.

Driven by public opposition to wind farms, President Macron confirmed on Twitter that the cost to the public purse would be reduced by 40%. It coincided with the country’s state-owner firms Areva and Alstom being purchased by foreign companies…

However, with the likes of Vattenfall leading the way and developing not one but two offshore wind farms without any public subsidies, it’s difficult to argue with them. However, there were some mitigating factors that helped to ease the burden as WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson explained: “In this instance the Dutch Government taking care of the grid connection is a significant factor. Plus, the Dutch Government has successfully minimised the risk linked to offshore wind by giving clear visibility about future market volumes. And the new Dutch Government has committed to bring in a carbon floor price at national level which will help the business case for offshore wind.”

Norway is also making strides towards its first offshore wind farm – but this would deliver power to the country’s oil and gas plant in Nyhamna. The story, picked by the OWJ earlier this summer, has been confirmed this week. The current energy supply is from a single grid and has been affected by outages in recent years.

Slightly barmy, yes, that green energy is powering fossil fuels – but still, who knows where companies like this will end up as they begin to embrace new energy sources. Until technology can deliver something better than enabling farms the size of India, we’ll have to wait and see.