Back on the mainland, the inspiration and ideas from yet another inspiring and unrivalled Offshore Wind Economic Forum on Sylt are slowly sinking in – my heartfelt thanks go to Martin Skiba, Jörg Singer and Henryk Ibe-Meinhardt: you are second to none!
The 15th Offshore Wind Business Forum took place once again at the Hall at the Cliff and got underway with opening remarks from, amongst others, the mayor of Wenningstedt-Braderup, with fantastic weather.
Europe’s energy future depends on fossil-free electricity and on independence from fossil fuel imports. A 100 per cent sustainable energy system requires offshore wind energy, with its power-generation capabilities, which in turn can only be fully utilised through efficient spatial planning.
Europe’s economic future needs a strong offshore wind industry to create jobs and generate added value. And this industrial growth is only possible with predictability and a steady pipeline of projects.
In her opening address, Dr Anna Wallbrecht of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy addressed the as yet unadopted amendment to the WindSeeG, which, unfortunately, does not yet support the priorities mentioned above. The draft already includes key elements such as the Net Zero Industry Act, an optimised site layout, as well as PPAs and CfDs. The focus now is on devising the optimal framework that will enable projects to be realised, despite the current electricity market design.
I found Damien Lhors’s speech from Vestas particularly inspiring! Thank you very much!
As expected, the panel discussion ‘Is Europe ready for the next wave of offshore wind?’ was a highlight of the two-day Offshore Wind Business Forum. Leading female offshore wind managers made it clear what, from a developer’s perspective, is now crucial to driving forward the expansion of offshore wind energy.
The panel discussion, moderated by Stefan Wenzel, entitled “Logistics for offshore wind energy: Ahead of or behind the expansion?”, once again highlighted the importance of stable expansion planning for investment, which lays the foundations for successful expansion and domestic value creation.
The ‘Best Offshore Wind Farm in Operation 2025’ award went to Vattenfall’s Sandbank offshore wind farm, whilst the ‘HSE Award’ went to EnBW for the Hohe See offshore wind farm. Congratulations!
The forthcoming amendment is about much more than just the tendering model, without wishing to downplay its importance. The point is that, in addition to available ports, infrastructure and vessels, the entire supply chain requires a secure project pipeline in order to be ready, following the pending and forthcoming FIDs, to turn offshore wind projects into offshore wind farms that enable a sustainable European energy supply. It is also about being able to utilise offshore wind power in the way that the entire energy supply system requires – which includes green hydrogen and expansion in spaces that are suitable for it.
Once again this year, I was delighted to see so many familiar faces, meet new colleagues and have so many inspiring and valuable conversations in such a perfect setting.
The beach restaurant ‘Onkel Johnny’ offered not only excellent food but also the perfect atmosphere for networking. A thousand thanks to Henryk Ibe-Meinhardt and the team!
The professional photographs in this article are by the brilliant photographer Kevin Winiker of Photostudio Ottensen
