Twenty Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have signed the “Northern Seas as the Power House of North-Western Europe” Manifesto which sees offshore wind energy as a way to make the Northern Seas the “power house” of Europe.
MEPs believe that the progressive, large-scale, deployment of offshore wind farms and emerging marine renewables, along with the completion of a meshed electricity grid, should be the backbone of Northern Seas regional cooperation. This manifesto proposes an action plan to bring into reality the European Parliament’s call for “strong political support and endorsement of the North Sea Offshore Grid as a key step in building an effective Energy Union.”
The completion of this action plan would be a major step forward in the establishment of a strong, transparent and reliable governance structure supporting the deployment of offshore wind farms, emerging marine renewables and a well-interconnected electricity grid.
Offshore wind energy demonstrates tremendous further potential, as various scenarios envisage the total installed capacity increasing from 10 GW today to between 70 and 100 GW in Europe by 2030.
This would make it fourth largest electricity generation source, and therefore, one of the best options to help achieve decarbonisation. Nevertheless, the sector remains immature compared to onshore wind and needs to achieve significant cost reductions and technological progress in the coming years in order to realise these scenarios, the Manifesto said.
In order to achieve cost reductions, EU Member States should commit to a stable, long-term regulatory framework providing investors with predictability, and should streamline safety and administrative requirements while maintaining the highest possible standards, as has been the case for offshore oil and gas drilling operations.
Secondly, MEPs believe standardisation is key, not only for the supply chain to advance serial production, notably of blades, but also in terms of system technologies, optimisation of support structures, improvement of installation logistics, as well as joint installation and maintenance capacity building.
A combination of strong industrial leadership and close regional cooperation of governments can ensure a steady flow of projects in the pipeline and deliver significant cost reductions, according to the Manifesto.
The MEPs believe that the Northern Seas represent the largest potential, in terms of installed electricity capacity, to contribute to the EU’s 2030 energy and climate targets. Offshore renewable energies in the Northern Seas could make a significant contribution to jobs, growth and innovation and could help to maintain European technology leadership in turbines and electricity grids.
Ultimately, progress made in the Northern Seas is expected to benefit the whole of Europe and help accelerate the development of wind in other coastal regions of the EU, notably the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, the Mediterranean and the Iberian Atlantic coast, thanks to cost reduction and technological improvements such as enabling installations for deeper waters, the MEPs said in the Manifesto.