European offshore wind enjoys record year in 2023

A record 4.2 gigawatts of new offshore wind power generation was installed in Europe in 2023, the trade association WindEurope said Thursday, but the region remains far off the pace needed to hit its targets.

Last year's European installations were up 40 per cent from 2022, and while the growth rate is expected to halve this year, new offshore wind capacity should still hit around 5 gigawatts. "Things are looking up again for offshore wind in Europe," said WindEurope, adding there is "new confidence and optimism" in the sector. The Netherlands, France and the UK installed the most new capacity.

Some 30 billion euros in new offshore wind projects were approved in 2023, also a record, that will see eight major offshore wind projects built in coming years. WindEurope expects around 5 gigawatts of new offshore wind production to come online in 2025 and 2026 as well. But that is still far short of what is needed if Europe wants to hit its 2030 target of 111 gigawatts of offshore wind installed capacity, compared to less than 20 gigawatts installed at the end of 2023, noted WindEurope.

"European countries will need to build 24 GW a year in the period 2027-2030 to reach the 2030 targets. But today’s offshore wind supply chain can only produce around 7 GW each year," it said. Offshore wind is one of the major sources of green energy that Europe is counting on to decarbonise electricity production and reach its 2050 target of net zero carbon production. Several new factory projects were announced last year which should help reduce reliance on Chinese manufacturers, according to the trade association.

"Europe needs more of these investments to avoid bottlenecks in the offshore wind supply chain," said WindEurope. Investment in the offshore wind had plummeted in 2022 due to supply chain problems, high interest rates and a jump in prices of raw materials.