FLOURISHING EUROPEAN OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY SECTOR AT RECORD HIGH IN 2020
Offshore wind is a promising renewable energy source that is predicted to contribute to the global and European to improve their decarbonization efforts the domestic economy by 2050 and keep global warming to around 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels standardized in the Paris Climate Change Agreement. The European Commission is estimated that the EU is prepared to produce a minimum of 240 GW (gigawatts) of global offshore wind power capacity before the end of 2050. International energy associations and organizations are even more optimistic about this energy source prospect. Europe accounted for around 80% of global offshore wind capacity and is the dominant region in manufacturing and technologies. At the same time, Europe offshore wind accounts for 210,000 jobs (over half of all wind energy jobs). This number would increase further with more significant investment from the government and local sources.
Europe remains the global leader in offshore wind, with 80% of total capacity and significant new investments planned by the several Member States. Within the EU-28, offshore wind accounts for 10% of total wind energy capacity and 23% of annual capacity additions in 2018. According to figures from the European Investment Bank, 10 million households in the EU-28 are now served by offshore wind energy. Nevertheless, offshore wind in Europe is currently concentrated in a handful of countries with territorial waters in the North Sea: the UK (44% share of capacity), Germany (34%), Denmark (7%), Belgium (6.4%), and the Netherlands (6%). In the UK and Belgium, offshore wind accounts for over a third of total wind power.
Europe is unlikely to lose its leading role in the offshore wind sector in the coming years. Under the International Energy Agency (IEA) introduced policies scenario (based on existing government policies), the EU and UK combined will account for nearly 40% of the global offshore market by 2040. Growth in overall installed capacity in the market will be almost 130 GW. Moreover, the offshore wind would then deliver 16% of the region’s electricity supply by 2040 (compared to 12% by 2030)
2020: An Opportunistic Year for European Offshore Wind Investments
But despite positive trends in offshore wind technology and finance last year, more still needs to be done to deliver the volumes European governments want, industry body WindEurope warned. Moreover, A record Euro 26.3 billion was invested in new European offshore wind farms in 2020, but new installations continued to lag behind the volumes needed to hit EU targets.
These investments will finance 7.1 GW of new capacity, but this still falls well short of the annual installations needed to meet European governments‘ targets. Meanwhile, new grid-connected capacity dropped from record levels in 2019, though the 2.9 GW brought online last year was in line with WindEurope’s pre-coronavirus pandemic forecast.
The industry body also noted increased interest from corporate off-takers, turbines‘ increased power ratings, and greater interest in areas beyond the North Sea. However, it warned that installations need to ramp up. There is still a need for new development to enable cross-border offshore wind farms, simplify and accelerate project permitting and improve maritime spatial planning.
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