Europe has once again faced obstacles in the transition from Russian gas to wind energy. One more attempt to stop using Russian energy led to nothing. The fact is that the earlier developed wind energy plan aimed to cut Europe’s dependence on Russian gas and reduce harmful emissions could hardly be implemented, Bloomberg wrote.
Not so long ago, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Denmark issued a declaration to speed up offshore wind construction. Their initial goal was to reach 65 gigawatts of capacity by 2030, which five times exceeds the amount deployed today. What is more, the United Kingdom intended to construct wind farms of additional 50 gigawatts near its coast. However, just a year later, it became obvious that such a plan could hardly become true. “One of my worries is that we don’t move forward fast enough,” Rasmus Errboe, head of Europe for Orsted A/S, the largest offshore wind farm developer in the region, said. “We will miss our 2030 targets.” Analysts suppose that by the end of the decade, the above-mentioned countries will reach about 88 gigawatts, which is just three-quarters of their goals.
Industry group WindEurope stated that in 2022, “there wasn’t a single final investment decision in a new offshore wind farm”. Meanwhile, construction costs have surged. This year, the situation has somewhat improved. Some companies have made new investments in offshore wind farms. Nevertheless, to reach the goal, every project should “go ahead on schedule, if not before”.