Can developers, offshore construction companies, and shipbuilders map a road for the offshore wind sector to reach massive capacity targets while avoiding bottlenecks due to vessel shortages and port over-capacitation? But also, are some of these challenges in the industry providing opportunities for the supply chain? Questions that are discussed in the conference session ‘Opportunities in offshore wind’, with speakers from RWE Renewables, TotalEnergies, Van Oord, and Damen Shipyards Group.
The Netherlands recently set a goal of having 70 GW of offshore wind by 2050, the UK also raised its 2030 target to 50 GW, and ambitions under the Esbjerg Declaration and the recently signed North Sea and Baltic Sea agreements are jaw-dropping. In Europe, the Baltic Sea is getting ready for plenty of offshore wind, especially through projects in Poland. Outside Europe, the US, Taiwan, Japan, and now Brazil and Colombia, just to name a few, are poised to become the next big hotspots for offshore wind activity. From the developers’ side, joining the session are Renske Ytsma, Director Offshore Wind Development Continental Europe at RWE Renewables, and Wilfried Vandersippe, Head of Business Development Offshore Wind at TotalEnergies. Aurnoud Kuis, Managing Director Offshore Wind at Van Oord, and Mark Couwenberg, Product Manager SOVs at Damen Shipyards Group, will be providing more insights from the the supply chain. Paul de Leeuw, Director RGU Energy Transition Institute, is the moderator of the session. The panellists at the ‘Opportunities in offshore wind’ session address both the ins and outs of the European offshore wind industry, regulations and supply chain, as well as the offshore wind industry globally and the European supply chain’s role in offshore wind projects worldwide.