Two days of inspiring offshore wind energy exchange on Sylt at the fourteenth Offshore Wind Energy Business Forum 🌊⚓The end of August: beautiful sandy beaches, the North Sea, many experienced offshore wind energy experts combined with constructive exchange.
My personal highlights and favorites (among many excellent presentations and lectures) 👏:
➡️ Opening speech by Dr. Anna Wallbrecht, Head of Offshore Wind Energy, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE).
➡️ “Offshore Wind Energy in the USA: Status & Prospects” – Liz Burdock, President and CEO of Oceantic Network, USA. #Solidarität
➡️ “Monopile production around the globe: trends and challenges” – presented by Falk Lueddecke, Managing Director of JBO Engineering Group, followed by a panel discussion moderated by him:
– Jarosław Łasiński (Managing Director, Dajin Heavy Industry Europe Wind),
– Jost Backhaus (former Managing Director, Steelwind Nordenham GmbH),
– Heiko Mützelburg (Managing Director, Titan Wind Energy GmbH),
– Esben Strandgaard Kyndesen (EVP Commercial Business Development, EEW Group).
And it was the Monday after again. But here’s what I took away from the island:
👉 The European offshore wind industry has the #know-how and #experience to achieve sustainable energy independence and even more industrial 💪 strength – provided there are fair competitive conditions (level playing field). Which is currently out of the question. However, this is absolutely essential for continued prosperity, #employment growth and continuous #innovation in #Europe, as investments in the #supply chain are often made by SMEs.
Green steel is a must for the expansion of offshore wind energy in Europe and for re-industrialization, and therefore green hydrogen remains a “must-have” for many other industrial reasons, which should not be dependent on imports alone. #Energy independence # Resilience
👉 Offshore wind energy is an #international business – but regional #value creation remains the key to success on many different levels (not just for public #acceptance).
👉 Political stability and #regulatory frameworks are important: investors and the supply chain need #reliable targets to restore #confidence in projects and long-term #growth.
👉 The areas to be auctioned in the #NorthSea and #BalticSea in Germany must be attractive enough in terms of #power yield.
The offshore wind industry, which is currently facing strong political headwinds – particularly in the United States, but also in Germany – has faced considerable, often political challenges from the outset and has tackled these together.
➡️ Offshore wind energy is worth finding #solutions for. 🌊⚓💙
It was once again a great enrichment to take part in the WORLD FORUM OFFSHORE WIND (WFO) – to share experiences, exchange different #perspectives and see many familiar faces again.
Many thanks 🙏 to Martin Skiba, Jörg Singer and Henryk Ibe-Meinhardt for the perfect organization. Everything was thought of in Wenningstedt on August 28/29, 2025. 👏🌊
