Global: European Offshore Wind Industry Joint Declaration on Cost Reduction

Offshore wind energy is an indispensable part of the EU’s energy future landscape. A sustainable, secure and affordable energy system can only be possible by exploiting the immense energy potential that European seas hold through this technology. As Europe progresses towards a low carbon economy, offshore wind energy will play an increasingly important role for businesses and consumers.

Already today, offshore wind energy helps meeting Europe’s energy and economic recovery challenges. With over 11 GW of installed capacity across 82 sites in Europe, the offshore wind industry employs 144,000 workers and is the renewable energy technology with the highest deployment rate in the last five years at a 22.7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). The industry expects its capacity to double by 2020 reaching 24 GW and further tripling in the following decade to 2030 to 66.5 GW cumulative capacity.1

The success of offshore wind in Europe over the last years has attracted significant investments from worldwide investors. In the period 2010-2015 investments amounted over €46.5 bn. In 2015, €13.3 bn worth of investments were committed to offshore wind energy, or half of the total investments in wind energy in Europe. The sector expects that by 2030, investments in offshore wind will be in excess of €130 bn.

• See full offshore wind cost reduction statement