The period of vacations and holiday trips is slowly coming to an end, and the conference season and the upcoming fall are taking shape ahead of us. Our editorial staff of BalticWind.EU noticed that despite the holiday season, the offshore wind energy industry did not slow down and is optimistic about the coming years. What topics will dominate in the coming months? Here are our editorial four.
Fit-for-55 – discussion on emission reduction and the role of offshore wind energy sector
There is probably no doubt here. The Fit-for-55 package aims to provide the framework for a 55 percent reduction process until 2030 and set a course for climate neutrality until 2050. According to the proposal, the Commission is raising the EU’s renewable energy target from 32 percent to 40 percent until 2030. This means that until 2030 the EU will need 451 GW of wind capacity, compared with 180 GW today. This means that until 2030 the EU will have to install 30 GW of new wind farms every year, which is a significant acceleration of the expansion of wind energy. In the current situation, we expect to build only 15 GW per year in 2021-25.
The package will include a higher target for renewable energy sources, but as the industry pointed out before the package was presented, simply raising the target does not accelerate the sector’s development. Too complicated rules and procedures for obtaining permits constitute a barrier to the expansion of wind energy needed for the European Green Deal. There are not enough staff to process permit applications.
In addition, the subject of climate policy will also be related to the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow – representatives of the offshore wind energy industry will certainly also attend this event.
Fishing and the environment – more and more crowded the seas
In the second half of 2021, there may be more discussions about how to reconcile the interests of all maritime industries in one place at sea. This will be a big challenge for European decision-makers who consider marine energy technologies to be one of the key factors in reducing CO2 emissions – offshore wind farms are also appearing here. Even during the holiday season, the voices of fishermen were heard louder and more worried about the impact of the wind turbines’ expansion on fish and fishing. Environmental organizations are also not idle and alarm that too aggressive expansion may harm (discussion in Germany) marine ecosystems. In the opinion of BalticWind.EU, the topic of reconciling the interests of various industries and environmental issues will be one of the main topics of discussion until the end of 2021.
Ports and the hydrogen economy
In the autumn, we will also talk about the future of ports in connection with the dynamic development of offshore wind energy in Europe and their adaptation to hydrogen production and its export. However, here is a proposal for the possibility of producing hydrogen not in ports but at sea – hydrogen would be exported with the help of pipelines or ships to land. Offshore wind energy will be one of the key pillars for the development of the hydrogen economy.
BalticWind.EU as a media patron and participant in debates
An intense autumn awaits our editorial office. We are preparing new language editions of our portal, we will also start with podcasts and quarterly reports. In addition, we receive more and more proposals to take media patronage over industry events in Europe. Our representatives will also participate as experts in discussion panels. For example, the Managing Director of BalticWind.EU Paweł Wróbel will take part in the discussion on the future of the offshore energy sector in Poland during the September Scientific Conference “Energy security – pillars and development prospects” in Rzeszów. We will also be present at the event organized by WindEurope – ElectricCity 2021 in Copenhagen in November 2021. We will keep you updated!
