North Sea energy ministers call on new EU commission to boost offshore wind

North Sea countries have agreed new recommendations for the incoming European Commission to boost framework conditions for Europe's offshore wind industry, Denmark's energy ministry said Oct. 24 after hosting the annual meeting of the North Seas Energy Cooperation.

The so-called Odense recommendations call for new approaches to financing cross-border energy projects and interaction between offshore wind expansion and green hydrogen production.

"We need to clarify where the demand for green energy will be in Europe for many years to come, so that we can plan the infrastructure and connect production and demand," Denmark's energy minister Lars Aagaard said in a statement.

His predecessor Dan Jorgensen has been named as the new EU energy commissioner, with confirmation hearings set for November.

The recommendations call for clearer financing rules for cross-border infrastructure, while tender criteria across countries must be uniform for the benefit of offshore wind developers and producers.

Other key points raised were the impact of the EU's carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) on offshore wind, strengthening the competitiveness of Europe's wind power supply chain, and the need for an EU electrification strategy.

North Sea nations need to ramp up offshore wind supply chains rapidly to meet a collective target of 120 GW of installed offshore capacity by 2030, agreed at a summit in Ostend last year.

Europe's capacity to manufacture offshore wind turbines would need to triple to 20 GW/year by the second half of this decade to meet the Ostend pledge.

Germany, the Netherlands and Norway all tendered unprecedentedly large North Sea offshore wind licenses this year, while Denmark's biggest offshore wind tender, for the 3-GW Nordsoen sites, is due to close in December.

German offshore wind capture prices averaged Eur65.41/MWh in the first nine months of 2024, according to Platts assessments for S&P Global Commodity Insights.

Commodity Insights analysts forecast installed offshore wind capacity across the EU27, the UK and Norway to exceed 100 GW in 2030, roughly tripling from current installed capacity.