The offshore wind conference 2024

On October 29, the annual Offshore Wind Conference took place and we were there to catch up on the latest news.

Among those present was the Parkwind cluster, which has won the concession for Southern North Sea 2, which is bottom-fixed. They state that they are looking for Norwegian suppliers, but that contract awards are some way off. They want to get started as soon as possible and in this context they are also considering Chinese turbines as China is most capable of delivering.

Furthermore, a simpler way of orienting yourself if you want to gain access to the market was discussed. The goal is to have "one way in".

Southern North Sea 2 is considered profitable. The idea is that this profitability will reduce costs in floating offshore wind. Economists who were on stage believe this is entirely possible, but you have to get started quickly. This is because construction prices for ships, turbines and other services are on the rise. Competition with the oil industry will also have an impact. Last but not least, there is a concern about "price cannibalization" between the North Sea countries. If it's windy in the North Sea, it will be all over the North Sea and this will lead to competing prices to get rid of the power. So, it would be correct to say that there are some bumps in the road. And this can affect the willingness to invest.

A recurring theme at the conference is that things have moved too slowly and that long-term predictability is needed. If this is not in place, no one will invest. Here, the representatives of the Labour Party and the Conservatives contributed to the lack of clarity. They were mostly concerned with catching each other in untruths.

Risk and regulations were also on the agenda. Unfortunately, most of the focus is on the risk of loss of equipment or money, and little on personal safety. In addition, we talked about the safety of having equipment manufactured in countries with which we may come into conflict and the dependency this entails. Havtil was on stage and talked about the upcoming regulations, but that was all.

 

Offshore wind is still some way off. It is predicted that oil and gas activity will decline from 2027. The fear is that we haven't gone far enough in the development of offshore wind power and that there will be a gap in time where more potentially skilled employees leave oil and enter other industries. The desire is to achieve a transition. But the predictability does not seem to be there. The politicians see that they have to "find money", and they are also arguing about how this should be done. There is no common agreement on how to work going forward. Perhaps miracles will happen and they will figure this out. It may seem that a lot depends on the Conservatives, Labor and SV. The session the politicians had was more reminiscent of an election campaign than information to the industry.