Offshore
Europe’s offshore wind sector offers great potential to boost energy security across the continent.
2023, for example, the UK was unable to store more than 1.35TWh of wind energy during peak conditions – enough to power some 1.2 million homes – according to Ofgem estimates. To solve this issue, the UK and Europe more broadly will need to invest in long-term energy storage solutions, which can come in several different forms. “Battery storage and battery technology is developing very quickly as we speak – that’s going to be one part of solving the storage issue,” notes Holsten. “Hydrogen is another.”
As he notes, Europe will have to take significant steps towards developing energy storage in parallel with its offshore wind capacity to meet its energy targets. “We first have to make sure that we have a sufficient amount of energy for our housing and our industries and so on – and at a reasonable cost,” he adds. “But when you start to see excess capacity coming from offshore wind that you can use for other purposes, storage will become a very important problem to solve.”
“I think we’ll see a mix – a hybrid generation. But if I look at offshore wind as one of the technologies that we will be using to provide secure and cheap power, that is in my opinion the fastest way to solve the problem.”
Revolution or evolution? 50GW
UK Department of Energy & Climate Change
18
The UK’s target for offshore wind energy capacity by 2030, up from 14GW in 2023.
While Holsten is swift to note the challenges that households have faced since the start of the war in Ukraine in terms of electricity and heating bills – particularly in the first few weeks of the conflict, which saw energy prices peak as the Russian gas supply was cut off from the rest of Europe – he’s more optimistic about the current state of play.
“I think now we are much closer to being back to normal. We have been able to tackle that problem very quickly, although the prices that households had to pay for electricity and heating bills a year ago no doubt felt
like a very heavy burden,” he says. “But I think we’re already starting to see the impact of offshore wind capacity that [have] been installed, and there will be more installed up to 2026.”
Looking at the future impact of offshore wind
power, Holsten is particularly struck by what he calls the “new constellations of collaborations between different market players”. Citing the Dogger Bank wind farm as an example, he notes that Equinor, SSE Renewables and Vårgrønn share a partnership on the project at a 40-40-20 respective split. “We see these constellations coming,” Holsten adds, before noting that the success of such offshore wind partnerships depends on the ability to find investment to develop further projects, either from governments and authorities or from the private sector. To encourage such investment, governments and policymakers could streamline permitting processes and ensure subsidies and loans are more readily available for the sector. “We are in a new industrial revolution, almost, with the energy transition. Or rather, let’s call it an evolution – we must help that evolution develop as quickly as possible.” Of course, only time will tell how quickly this revolution or evolution will take place. For the foreseeable future, however, offshore wind and other green energy sources will have to complement fossil fuels as we wean ourselves off them. The ongoing energy security problem that Europe has had to address in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine will certainly incentivise greater investment in offshore wind and other green energy sources, but there still remains work to be done. “I think we’ll see a mix – a hybrid generation,” says Holsten, regarding potential solutions to Europe’s energy security. “But if I look at offshore wind as one of the technologies that we will be using to provide secure and cheap power, that is in my opinion the fastest way to solve the problem. […] From a speed perspective, it’s the best option we have at the moment to help develop green power, improve energy security, provide a cheaper energy cost to our society and also help with the decarbonisation problem.” ●
World Wind Technology /
www.worldwind-technology.com
Arild Lilleboe/
Shutterstock.com
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