Still only 3% of Europe’s energy comes from offshore wind farms. How do you change it?

Giles Dickson of the Brussels consortium promoting WindEurope during Impact ’21 said the European Union plans to massively increase offshore wind power production by 2050.

European installed capacity abroad is expected to increase fivefold by 2030. As Dickson said, Poland is one of the important countries in which new wind farms will be built in its waters.

Apart from that, it will mainly be built in Great Britain, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and France.

Giles Dickson said developing the wind farm would become cheaper and in line with European Union goals.

“Offshore wind power is getting very cheaper, and production costs have dropped dramatically.” Dickson said. He explained that advanced technology was the driving force behind this decline in prices.

He also noted that the development of marine farms also means income for the European economy and new jobs.

Legislative solutions

Another facility that Poland is already planning to use is the so-called CFDs between companies investing abroad and the government.

Thanks to them, the average costs of electricity from a particular wind farm were calculated. If it increases – the government will return the difference to the company, and if it decreases – the company will pay the government.

According to Dickson, this solution reduces electricity costs from marine farms and reduces risks for investors. So it can help them to develop investments in marine farms faster.

International cooperation

Dickson also indicated that international cooperation will also aid marine development. He pointed to hybrid wind farms, such as artificial islands off the coast of Denmark, which are being built in common areas of different countries. Thanks to these solutions, it will be possible to save money and space at sea and to use transportation networks more efficiently.

Dickson also said that in order to develop offshore wind power, it would be necessary to develop ports for this. Among the important places for the development of the offshore in this context, he pointed out, among other things, a port in Gdynia.