Friday 18 August 2023

Europe’s offshore wind growth slows in 2023

In the first half of 2023, Europe added a total of 2.1GW of new offshore wind capacity to its energy portfolio, contributing to a cumulative offshore wind capacity of 32GW.

However, this figure falls below the necessary rate of progress required to meet the continent's energy and climate objectives, according to the association WindEurope.

More than half of the new capacity was concentrated in the Netherlands, while the remainder was divided among the UK, Germany and Norway.

The EU aims to construct an average of 11GW of offshore capacity annually until 2030.

While expectations leaned towards higher activity in the latter half of the decade, the current momentum, with 1.4GW added in the first half of 2023, remains substandard, according to the report.

Experts say that the shortfall in progress stems from challenges faced in 2022, where regulatory uncertainty caused by abrupt government interventions into power markets led to delays in investment decisions.