Buoyed by several large projects in the UK, the offshore wind energy industry is on pace for a record year in 2010. And two German wind energy companies -- one in the turbine manufacturing sector and the other in wind farm development/ownership -- stood out as having particularly strong starts to 2010, according to a report issued this week by the European Wind Energy Association.

The German industrial technology giant, Siemens, was responsible for building more than half (55 percent) of all new offshore wind turbines in Europe thus far in 2010. On the development side of the equation, Germany-based E.ON also had a strong showing in early 2010. Of the 333 MW of new offshore wind capacity in Europe, E.ON owns nearly two-thirds of it.

With established divisions in the U.S., both Siemens and E.ON (along with Danish turbine company Vestas) are well-positioned for growth in the North American offshore wind energy markets -- assuming that growth gets here some day.

Reprinted with permission from Earth & Industry