Europe has thousands of operational offshore wind farms, with the United Kingdom leading the pack as the country with the most installations. Identifying a single largest offshore wind developer is challenging given Europe's numerous major players, including Ørsted, RWE, SSE Renewables, and Vestas. The Hornsea Zone in the UK, with a combined capacity exceeding 5 GW, stands out as a likely contender for the largest offshore wind farm in Europe as of June 2024, although this title may shift with ongoing project developments.

Offshore wind farms in Europe holds half of the market share in offshore wind energy in the world. The record 4.2 GW (Gigawatt) of new offshore wind farms and EUR 30 billion investments give significant confidence to the offshore wind market players. These developments also motivate the European government's target of 160 GW of wind capacity by 2030.

The supply chain is also strengthened with new factory announcements in  Poland, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain. The European Union has also played its part by giving a new EU Wind Power Package with 15 immediate actions to support the European wind sector. 

The addition of the European Wind Charter signed by 26 European countries shows their commitment towards green energy and predicts the growth of offshore wind farm power projects in Europe. Here we explore the top five upcoming offshore wind farm power projects in Europe. 

Before going into detail, let’s have a glance at the top five upcoming offshore wind farm power projects in Europe with country, capacity, project company, and project value.

Top Five Upcoming Offshore Wind Farm Projects in Europe

History of Offshore Wind Farms in Europe

Image source: windeurope.org

Exploration of renewable energy sources in Europe started by the end of the 20th century. The increased crude oil crisis and carbon footprint reduction methods have pushed the need further. The history of European offshore wind power starts with the world’s first offshore wind farm in Vindeby, Denmark. Built in 1991, by SEAS and Elkraft (now Orsted) for 10 million. 

The first wind farm consisted of simple structures and generated power enough to support 2,200 houses. It was situated in the shallow waters off the coast of Denmark. The offshore wind power market was dull after the first project. A few projects were commissioned in Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the UK. Despite the installation difficulty, earlier offshore wind projects gave significant insights into the project feasibility, technological advantages, and possibilities in the field.

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Increased national interest in renewable energy became a driving factor for more offshore wind energy projects. The Danish government was the first to make a move and announced five new offshore wind farm projects in 1998. Later in 2001, the UK government’s Crown Estate and the British Wind Energy Association started the first offshore wind leasing round. This led the UK to become a leader in Offshore wind energy with 1,100 MW to be installed across 11 projects in the following years.

Technological advancement was made by Horns Rev 1 having a capacity of 160 MW in 2002. It was commissioned in the North Sea west of Denmark with steel monopile foundations and its own designated offshore substation. These projects were the first of many, project Anholt with 400 MW capacity was built powering 400,000 houses in 2013. Hornsea Project One with 1218 MW and Hornsea Project Two with 13,86 MW capacity in 2020 gave rise to modern offshore wind farms.

Top Upcoming Offshore Wind Farm Projects in Europe

Sylen Offshore Wind Power Plant

The Sylen offshore wind power plant with 8,675 MW capacity is constructed in the Gulf of Bothnia under the ownership of SVEA Vind Offshore and Iberdrola Renovables Energia, S.A. The project is in the early stages and started the consultation with the County Administrative Board in 2023 for the construction of the Sylen offshore wind power plant. 

SVEA Vind Offshore as the developer of the project, granted access to the permit required according to the Act on Sweden's Economic Zone and the Act on the Continental Shelf from the Government. Also, the permission to explore the sea and bottom conditions was given in 2022 according to the continental shelf. The wind farm is expected to deliver renewable electricity from 2033 with all permits. The project is constructed on an estimate of USD 13000 million. 

Med Wind Offshore Wind Power Plant 

Med Wind offshore wind power plant is situated in the Strait of Sicily 60km from the Italian coast. As the first floating offshore wind park in the Mediterranean, Med Wind will consist of 190 floating turbines with an installed capacity of 2.8 GW and an estimated annual production of almost 9TWh. 

Renexia, a subsidiary of Toto Group, is expected to start the construction of the offshore wind power plant in 2025. The project is in tie with Italy’s Renewable Energy Development Plan (PNIEC) to meet national power consumption from renewable sources by 2030. The Med Wind project is expected to power 3 million Italian households and reduce carbon emissions by 2.7 million tons. 

Protection of marine ecosystems in an area of 850 km sq. is ensured by an oceanographic study conducted by Renexia in collaboration with the Italian Navy and the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn Research Institute in Naples. Furgo secured a survey contract in September 2022 for detailed marine geophysical and environmental surveys. Renexia awarded Technip Energies for Front-end Engineering and Design (FEED) works of the wind park in December 2022 based on its floater technology INO15.

Read: Largest Offshore Wind Farms in the World

Eystrasalt Offshore Wind Power Plant 

Eystrasalt is an offshore wind power plant located in the Gulf of Bothnia, Sweden with a capacity of 3,900 MW. The project is in the announcement stage, likely to commence construction in 2025 in the ownership of Skyborn Renewables. The offshore wind power plant with 256 turbines is expected to start commercial operation in 2029. 

The country’s largest power plant will be located around 60 kilometers off the coast of Gävleborg accessible to both Sweden and Finland. Permit applications for the exploration of the sea have been tasked to the county administration in Uppsala County and the Geological Survey of Sweden. The project will generate 15 TWh of electricity annually upon completion, meeting 10% of Sweden's annual electricity needs.

Erik Segersall Offshore Wind Power Plant 

Norway-based Deep Wind Offshore is developing the offshore wind project Erik Segersall with a capacity of 6,000 MW. The single-phased project is expected to commence in 2025 and start its commercial operation in 2029. Erik Segersäll covers an area of about 1100 km sq. in Sweden's economic zone (SEZ).

The wind farm is developed on floating foundations moored to the seabed having a maximum of 300 wind turbines with 20 MW capacity. The area of the power plant is located in a nonprotected area of environment, fishing, or shipping. The estimate of the project is USD 9000 million.

IJmuiden Ver Wind Power Plant Zone

IJmuiden Ver Wind Power is an offshore wind farm project with a capacity of 6000 MW. This offshore wind power plant with four sites is located in the northwest of the Hollandse Kust (west) wind farm zone, 54 km from the coast. Netherland enterprise RVO is expected to complete the project in 2027.  The wind farm has a surface area of 400 km sq. will supply electricity until 2057.

Grid operator TenneT will install 3 platforms with 3 grid connections in the area having 6 GW (2 GW each) of new offshore wind capacity. The power is then supplied to the Dutch energy grid. A transit passage is used for the free passage of ships due to shared use. The Dutch government is planning the permit application period for the IJmuiden Ver Alpha and Beta sites to run from February 2024 to March.

Future of Offshore Wind Farm Power Projects in Europe

Offshore wind farm power projects in Europe are on the right track to achieve the climate and energy goals. The European Union and UK installed a new record 3.6 GW of offshore wind capacity in 2019 (also 70% of new onshore wind power plants), which is yet to reach the target of 160 GW of wind capacity by 2030. European governments are working on policies that increase the offshore wind projects which need €6.5bn of investments in ports and other areas.

The climate neutrality run by 2050 is another positive factor for the offshore wind projects in Europe. This requires an estimated 450 GW of offshore wind energy. The EU Offshore Renewable Energy Strategy, which was unveiled by the European Commission in November, will influence offshore wind development in Europe. It is in favour of the further development of floating offshore wind, which is necessary for the deeper waters of the North sea, Black Sea, Mediterranean, and Atlantic.

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Other upcoming offshore wind farm projects in Europe you have to keep on track are:

Conclusion

Europe, which has the highest number of offshore wind energy plants after Asia, is set to fly in upcoming years. The positive policies for energy transition impact the clean energy mission of Europe and strengthen the offshore wind industry. These five upcoming projects are more important to reach the European goal of 160 GW of wind capacity by 2030. Also, advancements in offshore wind technology like floating wind farms and a good supply chain will help the upcoming projects to be more efficient.

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