Germany’s offshore wind association BWO is holding an online discussion on 26 August on what the European Commission’s proposed revision of the EU Emissions Trading System means for steel procurement, investment and the competitiveness of the European supply chain.
The Commission published its ETS revision proposals in mid-July. The changes bear particularly on the steel industry, which matters directly to offshore wind: foundations, towers and other key components require large volumes of steel, and the competitiveness of European steelmakers shapes the resilience of the offshore supply chain.
The panel brings together political and industrial perspectives. Speakers include Dr Peter Liese MEP, the EPP group’s long-standing expert on the EU emissions trading system; Korbinian Ott, Managing Director of Steelwind Nordenham; Alexander Heck, Director Public Affairs at Salzgitter AG; and Sebastian Schulte-Derne, Head of EU Office at Ørsted.
The session runs from 10:00 to 11:00 CEST on Zoom. Registration is via the BWO website. The association, Bundesverband Windenergie Offshore, is based in Berlin and led by Managing Director Stefan Thimm.
The question sits at the intersection of two policy tracks that are rarely discussed together. Carbon pricing for heavy industry and offshore wind build-out targets are set in different files, but a monopile is roughly 1,900 tonnes of steel — and where that steel is made, and at what carbon cost, increasingly determines whether European content targets in offshore wind are achievable at all.
