MEPs in the European Parliament urged the European Union (EU) to deploy offshore wind more quickly as they noted that the cost of such energy source has fallen dramatically over the last two decades.
1. Competitive energy price
According to the European Commission, the energy production targets for offshore renewable energy in all of the EU’s sea basins are at least 60GW by 2030 and 340GW by 2050. Today’s offshore wind capacity rests at 12 GW.
In the report adopted on 16 February, during a plenary session in Strasbourg, MEPs highlighted that the cost of offshore wind has significantly dropped in the last two decades, declining by 48% between 2010 and 2020, thus making it one of the most competitively priced sources of energy.
Europe’s first-mover advantage in offshore renewable energies can rely on the vast potential offered by EU’s seas, from the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean, from the Atlantic to the Black Sea, as well as the seas surrounding the EU outermost regions and the overseas countries and territories
2. Towards net-zero emissions
Achieving carbon neutrality will not only require faster deployment of offshore renewable energy but also maritime space and coasts must be managed more sustainably, MEPs said following the adoption of the report.
The offshore renewable energy strategy is key to the green transition, where time is of the essence. We need lots of green electricity to fulfil our climate objectives and the offshore renewable energy strategy is absolutely essential in this regard.
Morten Petersen, lead MEP
MEPs say that a net-zero emissions economy requires renewable energy to be deployed on an unprecedented scale and have stressed the urgency of improving and expanding existing infrastructure. Moreover, the Parliament said that attention should be given to the discrepancy between EU countries and assist those lagging behind in the necessary switch to renewables.
3. Building consensus
MEPs say that offshore wind farms can benefit marine biodiversity if designed and built sustainably, but must coexist alongside other activities, such as fishing and maritime transport.
They further stress that work needs to be done for the public to accept offshore wind and to convince citizens that renewable energy is key to achieving energy independence and security of supply.
One of the negative aspects of wind energy lies on the substantial amounts of metals and minerals needed to develop wind turbines. Taking that into account, MEPs called for an EU-wide landfill ban on decommissioned wind turbine blades by 2025. They maintained the importance of designing turbines in a circular and renewable way.
Electrification is the cheapest and cleanest way to decarbonise our energy system. Most processes that today rely on fossil fuels can transition to renewable electricity using existing technologies. Wind energy will play a central role in this.
Giles Dickson, WindEurope CEO during their annual event in November 2021.
The EU executive believes that Europe has a major opportunity to ramp up renewable power generation to increase the direct use of electricity for a wider spectrum of end uses and to support indirect electrification through hydrogen and synthetic fuels as well as other decarbonised gases.
