Messe Husum & Congress and the wind and hydrogen association WAB e.V. took around 600 representatives of the wind sector, politics, associations and the media to offshore wind farms in the German North Sea on 31 August, and have now agreed with the shipping company FRS to run further expert-led excursions. The organisers said on 10 September that the next trip is planned for 2028 as a prelude to HUSUM WIND 2029.
The full-day voyage aboard the FRS Halunder Jet ran from Hamburg past roughly 20 offshore projects. Specialists from wind farm operators, transmission system operators and supply-chain companies briefed participants on the wind farms, grid infrastructure and current technology along the route; WAB said it contributed a programme of around 60 speakers. The organisers said the last remotely comparable industry excursion took place more than 15 years ago.
The trip also included a live demonstration by Northern Helicopter above the emergency tug NORDIC, operated by Fairplay Towage on behalf of the German federal government as part of the North Sea emergency towing concept. Participants watched an abseiling manoeuvre from close range, a reminder of the rescue and safety infrastructure that offshore expansion depends on. By coincidence, the Ørsted-operated Borkum Riffgrund 3 wind farm, which the vessel also passed, started commercial operation the same day.
“Offshore wind energy is a central component of the energy transition and, at the same time, a sector with enormous technical and infrastructural demands. The excursion made this scale directly tangible,” said Pascal Hofer, project manager of HUSUM WIND. Markus Nölke, managing director of WAB e.V., said the association had drawn on its network along the whole value chain to build the on-board programme.
The excursion came shortly after the German cabinet adopted its amendment to the Offshore Wind Energy Act (WindSeeG), which reworks auction design with the stated aim of restoring investment security for developers. The organisers framed the trip as a prelude to HUSUM WIND, which runs from 14 to 17 September 2027 and expects more than 600 exhibitors and 12,000 trade visitors. For the Baltic industry the format is worth noting: no comparable operator-guided sea excursion yet exists for the Polish or Lithuanian projects now entering construction and operation.
