EU leaders are meeting in Ostend, Belgium, to agree a pact for the rapid build-out of offshore wind in the North Seas.
Nine heads of state and government and the President of the EU Commission will meet today in a follow-up to last year’s summit of Belgium, Demark, Germany and the Netherlands in Esbjerg.
Those four are joined by the UK, France, Ireland, Luxembourg and Norway.
In an Industry Declaration more than 100 companies, representing the whole value chain of offshore wind and renewable hydrogen in Europe, outline what the nine governments need to do now to deliver their offshore wind ambitions.
Over 100 CEOs from across the offshore wind value chain will also attend the meeting, which is the biggest ever political summit on energy in the North Seas, claimed WindEurope.
In an Industry Declaration the 100-plus companies welcome that the nine governments want to reinforce their offshore wind ambitions at today’s North Sea Summit.
The Industry Declaration outlines the urgent need to strengthen Europe’s wind energy manufacturing capacities. The signatories stress that an expansion of offshore wind in the North Seas in line with Europe’s net-zero targets must be made in Europe.
Governments bordering the North Sea understand that to make this a reality, major new investments are needed in wind energy manufacturing capacity and supporting infrastructure. In the EU, the recently proposed Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA) is an important first step.
In the UK, Powering Up Britain plans to deliver energy security, investments and net-zero emissions.
The NZIA does not underpin Europe’s ambitions with adequate financing and funding mechanisms, said WindEurope, and is “overly focused” on technological breakthroughs, rather than actual scaling up of existing supply chains.
To meet the expansion path outlined in the Ostend Declaration Europe needs to manufacture 20GW a year by the second half of this decade.
“Bottlenecks in the manufacturing of foundations, cables, substations and in the availability of installation, service and other offshore wind vessels are looming today already,” stated WindEurope.
Similarly, if the UK is to meet its 50GW target for 2030, “significant acceleration” is needed in grid development and supply chain investment.
Europe needs to double its annual grid investments and channel €9bn into the modernisation and expansion of its port infrastructure between now and 2030, WindEurope said.
The Industry Declaration also touches upon financing mechanisms, auction design, industrial policy and electricity market design to unlock the investments needed to deliver Europe’s offshore wind ambitions.
WindEurope Chair and CEO of RWE Offshore Wind Sven Utermöhlen said: “The North Sea Summit represents an important step towards increasing Europe’s energy security by supporting an accelerated development of offshore wind in the North Sea.
“For achieving the ambitious offshore wind buildout targets, we need to massively ramp up European wind supply chains by target industrial policy measures and adequate support instruments.”