Offshore wind is the 'rising star' in the European energy mix — Simson

Offshore wind is the “rising star” in the European energy mix, with a pipeline of projects that can underpin growth targets for power generation from renewables, according to the European Commissioner for Energy.

Commissioner Kadri Simson told delegates at the ONS event in Stavanger that Europe still has a global leadership position in offshore wind technologies and will bring this to bear as one of the leading solutions that can help Europe to replace fossil fuels.

"Altogether, at the current moment, we have only 34GW of offshore wind installed. But (European Union) member states around the North Sea basin, together with Norway and the UK, have set a very ambitious target for 2030 of 111GW... you really can see that developments and project promoters are acting,” Simson said.

Describing offshore wind as the "rising star" in the European energy mix, Simson said the level of excitement about this was perceptible when she attended two high-level North Sea offshore summits where "all the presidents and prime ministers were present".

She said offshore wind developers could also be encouraged by the fact that European electricity system operators had presented in January "for the first time ever" their 10-year network development plans.

‘“Clearly, if you build an offshore wind farm, it requires also connections to the mainland grid. So this is a promising development," Simson said.