European offshore wind engineering – past, present and future

The paper tells the story of 25 years of technology developments and engineering challenges in the European offshore wind sector. Since the world’s first offshore wind farm at Vindeby in Denmark in 1991, the offshore wind industry has developed into a significant business across north-western Europe and beyond. The paper describes the early development of the wind industry in Denmark, followed by a focus on the evolution of offshore foundation concepts, their applicability and their pros and cons.