Expansion of North Sea wind farms tops the agenda at Ostend energy summit

Nine European countries are holding a summit in Belgium aimed at scaling up wind power generation in the North Sea, an effort spurred by the fall-out of the Ukraine war and the push for renewable energy sources.

Wind turbines near the Modular Offshore Grid in the North Sea. AP - Eric Herchaft

Hosted by Belgium in the coastal resort of Ostend on Monday, the meeting will gather the leaders of EU members France, Germany, Ireland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen also attending.

Norway and Britain will participate, too, though French officials said the UK's energy minister would lead the British delegation – not Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who could not make it.

Ahead of the summit, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo underlined that the goal was to build enough North Sea wind farms to produce 130 gigawatts (GW) of electricity by the end of the decade.

That capacity should more than double – to nearly 300 GW – by 2050, he added.

• EU members agree to nearly double renewable energy by 2030

The North Sea summit is the second to be held, after the four countries in the inaugural gathering last year – Belgium, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands – decided it was necessary to broaden cooperation.

De Croo said developments over the past year, which saw European energy prices soar as the continent shunned Russian gas, meant energy was now, "more than ever, a geopolitical topic".

The summit will also focus on "speed of execution," notably by standardising the infrastructure needed so that North Sea wind farms could be built more quickly and more cheaply.

Dozens of representatives of energy and wind turbine companies are also taking part in the meeting, hoping to suggest ways governments can boost their countries' North Sea energy production.

A wind of change is blowing in Europe.

Today, we'll be joining leaders in Ostend for the second edition of the North Sea Summit to discuss the importance of investing in offshore wind.

With #REPowerEU, we are creating the right conditions to make the green transition a success.

— European Commission (@EU_Commission) April 24, 2023

Disparity in wind energy production

Britain has the greatest number of offshore wind farms, 45 of them producing 14 GW, with plans to expand capacity to 50 GW by 2030.

Germany is next, with 30 wind farms producing 8 GW, followed by the Netherlands, Denmark and Belgium, all producing less than 3 GW.

The other participating countries produce less than a gigawatt from their existing offshore wind farms but share ambitions to greatly increase energy from that source.

According to an official at the French presidency: "For us, as with our neighbours, offshore wind energy will probably be the main source of renewable energy production between 2030 and 2050, far ahead of solar energy and land-based wind farms."

As the North Sea is relatively shallow, turbines can be installed fairly easily and in great number with France aiming to have 40 GW in offshore output by 2050.

We have a problem here ❗❗ Europe invested just €17bn in new #wind farms in 2022. 📉 💶 That’s down from €41bn in 2021 and the lowest #investment figure since 2009 – a stark warning to Governments and policymakers. pic.twitter.com/toTk318t4g

— WindEurope (@WindEurope) March 29, 2023

Finding the finances

The European Union has recently set out a goal to double the proportion of renewables in its energy mix, to just over 42 percent, notably by making it easier to get permits to install the infrastructure.

WindEurope, the federation representing Europe's wind energy industry, believes the ambitions of the Ostend summit are doable, given the technological expertise and experience of companies in the sector.

But, for Pierre Tardieu, WindEurope's chief policy officer, "there is a lack of mobilisation of financing."

• Macron opens France's first offshore windfarm, a decade in the making

The organisation says Europe needs to build the offshore infrastructure to add 20 GW in output per year, yet the sector currently has capacity for just 7 GW annually, with supply chain bottlenecks for cables, wind turbine housings and other parts.

He says turbine-makers are operating "at a loss" because of logistical friction experienced in the wake of boosted demand after the worst of the Covid pandemic.

Recruitment in the sector is also well below where it needs to be, according to Tardieu.

However, investment to get Europe where it wants to be is massive: the EU has calculated the cost of getting to 300 GW in offshore energy production by 2050 at €800 million.