Strategy paper EU Commission

The European Commission today publishes its Offshore Renewable Energy Strategy. This envisages an expansion of offshore wind energy to 300 GW (excluding UK) by 2050 with investments of 800 billion euros. Offshore wind energy could become the most important power source in Europe as early as 2040 “The EU strategy places offshore wind energy at the center of future climate-friendly power supply. The Offshore Renewable Energy Strategy (ORES) is therefore a very important step for the offshore industry throughout Europe, "comment the German industry organizations, the Federal Association of Wind Farm Operators Offshore eV (BWO) and the OFFSHORE-WINDENERGIE Foundation, on the strategy paper published today by the European Commission . “At the national level, the challenges of offshore wind energy cannot be solved in the long term. The full potential of offshore wind energy can only be exploited through jointly coordinated European planning. "

"We are facing a mammoth task", says BWO managing director, Stefan Thimm. But the challenge cannot be met with money alone. It's about more. Europe is a patchwork of national special rules that have so far made the planning of transnational projects almost impossible. “It is positive that ORES contains many points that we, too, have repeatedly addressed in relation to German and European politics in recent weeks and months. Now these have to be converted into a reliable regulatory framework as quickly as possible, ”said Thimm. This includes the distribution of costs and benefits of cross-border projects, the interlinking of marine spatial planning with an increased focus on the possible co-use of available sea areas, the strengthening of regional cooperation, the need for pilot projects and of course the harmonization of the framework conditions for the financing of offshore wind Projects. The offshore price zone envisaged in the draft raises a number of questions that must first be analyzed and discussed in a broad stakeholder process.

Andreas Wagner, Managing Director of the OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY Foundation, adds: “In the program of the German EU Council Presidency, offshore wind energy is recognized as an important pillar of“ Green Recovery ”and the energy transition. Since Germany has also been chairing the North Sea Cooperation since the beginning of the year, Germany should now provide important impetus for promoting cross-border projects. What is needed now is a rapid determination of which areas are suitable for cross-border projects in order to clarify the investment framework based on this and to get the first cross-border pilot projects off the ground. "