Four nations pledge to tenfold rise in EU offshore wind power capacity

Four European countries are set to sign a pledge to build at least 150 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind capacity in the North Sea by 2050, the Danish energy ministry said on Wednesday.

The pledge by Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark will produce enough electricity to power 230 million European homes, the ministry said.

The project capacity would mark nearly tenfold increase in the European Union's offshore wind capacity. The EU Commission has set a target of 300 GW of wind at sea by 2050 up from the roughly 16 GW currently installed.

“Historic day today with official launch of 150 GW offshore wind target by 2050 in Denmark, Germany, Netherlands and Belgium alone. Add to that ambitions from UK, Norway and other countries, and the North Sea will end up being THE power plant of Europe,” Ørsted CEO Mads Nipper said on social media.

The declaration will be signed at the Esbjerg Offshore Wind Summit by the Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and the Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, in the presence of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

According to Rystad Energy research published earlier this year, new offshore wind capacity additions in Europe are set to hit a record high of 4.2 GW this year, topping 4 GW for the first time.

According to the research, Europe’s capacity additions in 2022 will top the previous annual record of 3.8 GW set in 2019.

The record-high capacity additions will be driven primarily by UK projects that will add 3.2 GW of capacity, a new annual high for the country, beating the previous record of 2.1 GW set in 2018, according to Rystad.

The speeded up installed capacity in the UK comes from three large projects that are expected to be fully commissioned this year and will be the most significant projects in Europe.

In 2019, Ørsted’s 1.2 GW Hornsea One project drove the previous continental record. New capacity additions are expected to grow further in the coming years, almost doubling again in 2023 to 7.3 GW and jumping to 8.6 GW in 2025, Rystad Energy said.