The North Sea Offshore Summit 2024 in Berlin at the Haus der Wirtschaft with around 200 international participants was dedicated to the challenges of offshore wind energy expansion in Europe and cooperation as well as the course that needs to be set now in 3️ panel rounds and exciting break-out sessions. In the panel “Supply Chains”, which I had the pleasure to moderate together with the brilliant panelists Ruud de Bruijne, Hugo Buis, Lois Isa Frahm and Albert Winnemüller, I talked about the beginnings of offshore wind development in Germany alpha ventus and the need for the supply chain to have planning certainty in order to be able to invest, to successfully attract skilled labor and to be part of the solution instead of remaining a bottleneck. It is also not just about tender criteria, although qualitative criteria are crucial for achieving the objectives.
The NZIA is also of great importance and strategic partnerships and customer involvement continue to be particularly important in order to make the necessary investments possible. Lois from Sif Group made it clear that local supply chains need to support nearby markets, after all, we are building these offshore wind farms to decarbonize the globe. In a keynote speech by Parliamentary State Secretary Stefan Wenzel, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, he mentioned that the tender design is currently being reviewed with a view to changes for the next tenders.
The BSH has published the draft update of the spatial development plan for the North Sea and Baltic Sea and the Federal Network Agency has announced the interim results of the current tenders in Germany for 2.5 gigawatts. Several zero-cent bids were received for each of the two tendered areas, meaning that a so-called dynamic tendering procedure is required for the second time. The revenue from these tenders must be used to strengthen the politically weakened offshore wind industry in Germany, to create the missing port infrastructure and to launch a qualification offensive.
Next year, Hamburg will continue on to Esbjerg and Ostend. Never before has it been so important to work closely together in Europe. The German Chambers of Commerce Abroad (AHK), with the support of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), organized the Offshore Wind Summit “Europe’s future powerhouse” together with the leading German Chambers of Commerce in Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands. Thank you for the invitation.