The governments of Belgium, Denmark and Germany and several industry leaders have signed a joint statement to further the development of offshore wind in Europe, including a call for at least 4GW a year of new deployment after 2020.
The governments reaffirmed a commitment to deploy a “significant volume” of offshore wind power in Europe between 2020 and 2030 at the Offshore Wind Energy 2017 event today in London.
The governments said they welcomed the cost reductions in offshore wind achieved to date and the intention of the industry that offshore wind keeps reducing its costs so Europe remains the global leader in the sector.
The signatories said delivering further cost reductions will require the deployment of significant volumes of new offshore wind and so industry is calling on European governments to collectively ensure there is 60GW, or at least 4GW a year of new deployment in the decade after 2020.
To deliver these volumes, the signatories committed to build on public-private cooperation to facilitate investments in projects and associated infrastructure.
They pledged to work towards the necessary European framework supporting Europe’s common renewable energy trajectories, in part, by calling on the European Commission to mobilise dedicated funding for strategic joint projects for offshore wind.
Industry signatories to the statement were Dong Energy, MHI Vestas, ScottishPower Renewables, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, GE Renewable Energy, Eon, EDPR, LM Wind Power, Vattenfall, Prysmian, Fred Olsen Windcarrier, Seaway Heavy Lifting, DNV GL, MPI Offshore, ABB, AXYS Technologies, Statoil, Shell, Eneco, the Port of Edbjerg, EnBW, Ideol, SSE, EDF EN, Van Oord and EOLFI.
Dong chief executive Samuel Leupold said: “More than ever, we need countries to coordinate and lay out a clear vision. A visible and steady pipeline of projects between 2020 and 2030 will allow for continued cost reductions, a thriving supply chain and continued European leadership in an increasingly international market for offshore wind.”
Image: Pixabay
