Europe Plans 25-Fold Increase in Offshore Wind

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GALWAY, IRELAND--December 1, 2020--Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The European Union (EU) is planning a 25-fold increase in offshore wind capacity in the coming decades to help meet its goal of climate neutrality by 2050.

This will mean boosting its current offshore wind capacity from 12 gigawatts (GW) to 60 GW by 2030 and to 300 GW by 2050. The European Commission outlined its wind plans in its Strategy on Offshore Renewable Energy, and said it will complement this with 40 GW of ocean energy and other emerging technologies, such as floating wind and solar, by 2050. In order to reach its ambitious offshore wind goals, the European Commission estimated that an investment of roughly 800 billion euros ($950 billion) will be needed. Today, renewable energy supplies about one-fifth of the EU's energy.

Industrial Info is tracking 147 planned European offshore wind projects worth $275.4 billion in investment.

"Europe is a world leader in offshore renewable energy and can become a powerhouse for its global development," commented European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson. "We must step up our game by harnessing all the potential of offshore wind and by advancing other technologies such as wave, tidal and floating solar. This strategy sets a clear direction and establishes a stable framework, which are crucial for public authorities, investors and developers in this sector. We need to boost the EU's domestic production to achieve our climate targets, feed the growing electricity demand and support the economy in its post-COVID recovery."

Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, added: "Today's strategy shows the urgency and opportunity of ramping up our investment in offshore renewables. With our vast sea basins and industrial leadership, the European Union has all that it needs to rise up to the challenge. Already, offshore renewable energy is a true European success story. We aim to turn it into an even greater opportunity for clean energy, high-quality jobs, sustainable growth, and international competitiveness."

The European Commission will encourage cross-border cooperation between member states on long-term planning and deployment, which it claimed "will require integrating offshore renewable energy development objectives in the National Maritime Spatial Plans, which coastal states are due to submit to the Commission by March 2021." It also proposes a framework under the revised TEN-E Regulation for long-term offshore grid planning, involving regulators and the member states in each sea basin. It will create a "clear and supportive" legal framework as well as a number of funding mechanisms to help encourage and support the necessary rollout of new windfarms.

Europe's wind industry body, WindEurope, welcomed the proposals, but said that "beefing up offshore wind requires large-scale investment in ports, offshore and onshore grids and the supply chain." It said that ports need 6.5 billion euros ($7.7 billion) in investments over the next 10 years, explaining that "all the equipment for offshore windfarms passes through ports: they need extensive space, heavy loading quays and deep berths. Ports are the hubs for operation and maintenance of offshore windfarms, and they'll become the assembly base for floating offshore wind." It highlighted that the current supply chain produces 3 GW of turbines a year, but in the future, it will need to produce 18 GW to reach its lofty goals and to capitalize on exports to new offshore wind markets like the U.S. and East Asia.

"This is a very good strategy. It confirms the vision for offshore wind to be Europe's number one source of electricity. It's also spot on in recognizing the necessary investments to deliver that -- in grids, ports and the supply chain," explained Giles Dickson, WindEurope's chief executive officer. "Offshore wind is cheap now but it requires high upfront investments. So minimizing financing costs is crucial to keeping overall costs low. Revenue stabilization is central to this. If banks see stable revenues, they lend at low interest. The expansion of offshore wind will also help economic recovery. Seventy-seven thousand people work in offshore wind in Europe today. That'll be 200,000 if governments deliver on their offshore wind plans for 2030. Each new offshore wind turbine generates 15 million euros ($17.8 million) of economic activity."

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