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Europe installed 2.1 GW of offshore wind in the first half of 2023, reaching 32 GW of total offshore wind capacity, WindEurope said on Wednesday.
The Netherlands accounted for more than half of new installations, with the UK, Germany and Norway hosting the remainder of newly added offshore wind turbines.
After no new investments in large-scale offshore wind in Europe last year, investments have improved in 2023 as six projects reached final investment decision (FID), representing EUR 15 billion (USD 16.4bn) of investment and 5 GW of new capacity.
WindEurope, however, said that the rate of installations in the EU, 1.4 GW in the first half, is well below the average 11 GW a year that the EU should be building between now and 2030.
The necessary investments to expand its offshore wind supply chain are not happening fast enough either, with bottlenecks already existing in the production of foundations for offshore wind turbines and in the availability of installation vessels.
According to the industry group, the EU’s Green Deal Industrial Plan and Net-Zero Industry Act will be unable to deliver the required investments in their current form.
WindEurope also calls for auction reforms. It says that governments should fully index the auction prices to cover inflation between the auction and the actual procurement of equipment.
“Offshore wind turbine costs have increased by up to 40% over the last two years. If Governments don’t recognise that, they’ll lose projects, just like the UK has lost Vattenfall’s Boreas offshore wind project,” the organisation’s announcement reads.
In addition, it urges governments to avoid uncapped negative bidding, which significantly increases the costs of building wind farms.
Out of the 12 GW of offshore wind awarded in auctions this year, 60% has been secured through uncapped negative bidding, WindEurope noted.
(EUR 1 = USD 1.092)
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