More and more multi‐national companies have discovered wind energy as a growth market and are getting involved in the production of wind turbines as well as the development and operation of onand offshore wind farms. By the end of 2010, wind farms all over the world with a total installed power of 200,000 MW will generate electricity in an environmentally friendly manner. The predicted further annual growth of 20 % shows that wind energy has already become an indispensable energy source for humankind.

In Germany, after many years of intensive technical and political preparatory work, the construction of deepwater offshore wind farms has started ‐ a much higher technical challenge than the nearshore wind farms erected in northern Europe so far. The offshore test site „alpha ventus“ 45 km off the coast of Lower Saxony is the pioneer of these deepwater wind farms, and the experience gained there, along with the German research projects focussing on offshore applications, will be an important contribution towards improving the reliability of this technology. Large German and European utilities are investing in these North Sea offshore wind farms which one day will be able to supply electricity for more than 14,000,000 households.