The European offshore wind sector can cut levelised electricity costs by 30% in the next decade if governments come together to draw up a 10GW per year auction pipeline and put Contracts for Difference up for grabs, WindEurope 2025 has heard.
The call to action, issued today by the offshore wind sector in Copenhagen, is underpinned by a plea for “predictability, predictability, predictability”, according to Orsted chief executive Rasmus Errboe (pictured).
Errboe told delegates on day three of the event that Europe needs to collaborate in a new, stronger way to match what he said is unprecedented collaboration across the sector to issue the call to action.
The paper seeks 10GW of auctions per year in the 2030s all backed by the two-sided CfD to deliver the predictability, he said.
This will help suppliers bank orders to make key supply chain investments, he said.
“Europe faces unprecedented challenges,” trade group WindEurope said in a release, adding that the bloc “must address the weaponisation of energy and strengthen its energy security”.
As part of this “offshore wind new deal”, Errboe said the sector can reverse the 50% increase in costs that the sector has seen in the last few years.
“We need to break that curve right now,” he said.
Errboe reckons offshore wind can cut costs by 30%, with a large proportion of this being down to the revenue stability CfDs bring.
“We are committed to doing our part”, he said.
“It should be noted that this formula alone is not enough to create a new equilibrium for offshore wind and secure Europe’s energy future,” Errboe wrote in the paper.
“That will require demand for electricity to be stimulated and facilitated through electrification and anticipatory investments in power grids.”
WindEurope added: “These priorities must be accompanied by broader measures to accelerate electrification, support energy-consuming industries’ competitiveness, and require a step-change in grid development and financing.”