EU countries update offshore renewable energy goals

EU member states have updated their offshore renewable energy goals to a combined total of approximately 88GW by 2030, rising to around 360GW by 2050.

This compares to a level of more than 20GW installed in the EU today and marks an increase over the EU’s offshore renewable strategy with targets of at least 60GW of offshore wind and 1GW of ocean energy by 2030 and 300GW of offshore wind and 40GW of ocean energy by 2050.

The non-binding agreements were made by the directors-general of the Ministries of Energy of the respective countries under the revised TEN-E (Trans-European Energy Networks) regulation, which requires the regional goals to be revised every two years.

The latest update on 18 December is the second, following the first January 2023 update and confirms that member states continue to attach high importance to offshore renewables for EU energy security and the clean energy transition, providing the stability the sector needs for its further development up to 2050, a statement from DG Energy reads.

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Broken down by the five sea basins, the individual goals for 2030, 2040 and 2050 are:

• Northern Seas offshore grids – 56.6GW, 168.5GW, 215.9-218.9GW
• Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan offshore grids – 20.2GW, 41GW, 57.7GW
• South and West offshore grids – 1.15-2.15GW, 9.55-10.55GW, 11.05-12.05GW
• Atlantic offshore grids – 4-5GW, 24-25GW, 46.5-51.6GW
• South and East offshore grids – 4.41GW, 16.2GW, 25.1GW

These target figures are intended to be in line with the national energy and climate plans of the respective countries and the offshore renewable potential of each sea basin.

Ranges are due ongoing discussions at national levels and/or uncertainty associated with the level of future development of offshore renewable energy, especially within the 2040 and 2050 timeframes.

They indicate the cumulative EU offshore goals as 86-89GW by 2030, 259-261GW by 2040 and 356-366GW by 2050

With these updated milestones agreed, ENTSO-E now needs to update its strategic integrated offshore network development plans, giving visibility to grid promoters, investors and the supply chain on the offshore grid development needs and the related onshore grid reinforcement requirements for each sea basin to 2050.

The first offshore network development plans were published in January 2024 and similarly require to be revised every two years.