WindEurope Bulletin
WindEurope Bulletin February 2025
7 February 2025
A word from the CEO
Dear WindEurope member,
In two months the European wind industry will meet in Copenhagen for the WindEurope Annual Event (8-10 April). We’re expecting 15,000 people. The full conference programme is now online – you can read it here.
Lots of Ministers and Government officials are coming. The new EU Energy Commissioner, Dan Jørgensen, will also be there. Banks, grid operators, industrial consumers, the military, and NGOs will all be speaking in the conference too. And the whole value chain of wind will be there in force. 500+ company stands in the halls – our biggest exhibition ever.
We hope to see you there. You can register here if you haven’t already done so.
The theme of the event is “putting wind at the heart of Europe’s competitiveness”. Europe’s competitiveness is a top priority for the new EU Commission. Their recent “Competitiveness Compass” sets the big picture. They’ll spell out the actual policies and measures in their “Clean Industrial Deal” on 26 February.
The Clean Industrial Deal has 2 goals:
- scale up Europe’s clean tech supply chains; and
- help heavy industry decarbonise and reduce their energy costs.
We strongly support both. Heavy industry such as steel, chemicals and cement are central to our supply chain. And electrifying them will increase demand for renewable power.
The EU Commission are also preparing an Affordable Energy Action Plan. With specific measures to try to reduce the prices industry and consumers pay for electricity and gas. Grid tariffs are a focus here, as are other fees and taxes Governments levy via energy bills. The Commission are not ruling out a return to price caps like they briefly allowed in 2022-23 – we’re advising against this.
A quick word about the German elections on 23 February. The CDU are still ahead in the polls. And their energy programme is broadly pro-wind, despite what their leader Friedrich Merz (likely new Chancellor) has said on TV. The far-right AfD (now polling at 22%) want to take down all of Germany’s wind farms but seem very unlikely to be in the new Government coalition.
Kind regards,
Giles Dickson
WindEurope Intelligence Platform
Wind Energy Permitting Insights
Permitting bottlenecks remain one of the biggest barriers for the expansion of wind energy in Europe. Simplifying the process is more important than ever as the EU is not building enough new wind farms.
WindEurope’s Wind Energy Permitting Insights tool tracks the implementation of the principles from the RED and other relevant national permitting regulations. This enables a comparison of the situations in different markets and highlights areas where each Member States should make efforts to improve. The tool is updated every six months.
Members’ Successes
Ocean Ecostructures: Biomimetic micro-reefs on the world’s first artificial energy island
The technology company Ocean Ecostructures is developing one of the largest marine bioregeneration projects carried out in Europe.
Located 45 km off the Belgian coast, the Princess Elisabeth Island of the Belgian transmission system operator Elia is an electricity hub with a capacity of 3.5 GW that bundles both the cables of the second offshore wind zone (Princess Elisabeth Zone) in the Belgian North Sea and those of future interconnectors with other European countries.
The Island is Elia’s flagship project, following a “nature-inclusive design” to boost biodiversity. Ocean Ecostructures’ technology will turn the concrete foundations of the island into an artificial reef that will promote the diversity of marine flora and fauna. To make this possible, 400 biomimetic micro-reefs will be installed.
The Bio Boosting System solution developed by Ocean Ecostructures combines advanced regeneration technology with Artificial Intelligence and robotics for results monitoring. As a result, the company is driving a paradigm shift by turning marine infrastructures into true blue oases.
To replicate the functions of natural reefs and maximise biomass and biodiversity, each micro-reef includes a microfauna attraction system, calcium carbonate substrate, and multi-layer design to enable a nursery-effect. The specific anchoring system has been adapted to cope with the demanding meta-oceanic conditions of the North Sea and enable a 100% robotic installation.
A scalable solution adapted to any offshore structure
Offshore wind plays a crucial role in achieving the EU's decarbonisation goals. However, the construction of fixed and floating foundations, submarine cabling, and electrical substations necessary to connect wind farms to the grid also has an
environmental impact.
These impacts can be mitigated by attaching non-structural biomimetic micro-reefs to these structures, fostering the development of resilient, fully functional ecosystems and turning infrastructures into biodiversity repositories.
In addition, Ocean Ecostructures provides its clients with a monitoring service through underwater drones and reporting, storing all the information of each of the micro-reefs directly in the cloud.
Data such as the increase in biodiversity, biomass, CO2 or oxygen in water are reported through its exclusive platform, iOceans, which makes it possible to value the natural capital that each infrastructure contributes to its environment. This helps
companies in their ESG strategies and brings them closer to the goal of becoming Nature Positive.
Share your successes with us!
Is your brand bringing new, ground-breaking solutions to the wind industry? Have you recently launched a major project in your field? Do you have positive business news to share?
Then make sure to get in touch with us here at WindEurope – we’ll be happy to promote your success story as part of our monthly Bulletin! This is a chance to share your accomplishments with thousands of others from right across the wind energy value chain – a major visibility boost.
Please be aware that this service is only available to members from the categories C3 and above. Publication of stories is on a first come, first served basis.
Get in touch with our Membership team now to send in your news!
Member’s Interview
Kuehne + Nagel
This month, we sat down with Vincent Fromont, Senior Vice President – Global Head of Renewable Energy at Kuehne+Nagel, to discuss their long history, the importance of digitalisation for our industry, and the need for greater transparency and cooperation across the wind energy market.
Offshore Wind Ports Platform
WindEurope brings together European ports serving the wind industry.
The Offshore Wind Ports Platform aims to help port authorities to exchange best practice, know-how and to jointly discuss opportunities and challenges that ports face as the offshore wind industry grows. In this edition, we cover the latest developments taking place in the fast-growing Baltic offshore wind hubs of Swinoujscie & Szczecin.
Poland reached a Sector Deal between its industry and Government to boost local content in offshore wind projects. By the end of this year, they aim to develop 20-30% of the total value in the preparatory, installation, and operational stages, increasing to at least 50% after 2030. Penalties will be imposed if local content is not reported. We’ve seen significant investments at Swinoujscie Port, worth a total of €100m. The port will feature two quays capable of receiving heavy oversized cargo and the largest jack-up vessels for 15 MW turbines. The terminal should be ready by mid-2025.
In Szczecin, a Tele-Fonika cables factory and a wind tower factory are under development. The wind tower factory, situated on a 17-hectare site, will be constructed within 18 months and will include four production lines and a warehouse for raw materials, with three hectares allocated for storage. In the meantime, the West Pomerania Offshore Wind Valley will be launched between the Ports of Swinoujscie and Szczecin.
Finally, a new Vestas nacelle factory is now operational as of January. It was fully commissioned just two years after receiving its permit.
Webinar
Innovation Fund call
To support members in securing access to some of the €2.4 billion set aside under the Innovation Fund call, WindEurope hosted a special members-only webinar on 5 February. Thank you to everyone who attended.
In case you missed it or would like to revisit the information provided during the webinar, the recording and the presentation are now accessible through the Members’ Area.
If you don’t have an account for the Members’ Area, you can create one here. Please consult this guideline video for a step-by-step walkthrough.
If you would like to apply for the Personalised Advisory Sessions, please submit your proposal by filling in this form and emailing it to us no later than Wednesday 12 February at noon. The sessions are scheduled to take place on 25-26 February.
Events
WindEurope Annual Event 2025 – See you in April!
Europe’s biggest industry gathering this year is in Copenhagen from 8-10 April. At WindEurope’s Annual Event you can expect a three-day conference, busy exhibition and lots of social & side events. Our event tagline – Scale Up, Electrify, Deliver – is all about our main priority: scaling up wind and our clean tech supply chains, electrifying demand, and working to deliver Europe’s long-term competitiveness.
With 15,000+ attendees, 350+ speakers and 500+ exhibitors, the wind value chain will be there in force – so lots of opportunities to network and do business. You can also benefit from industry-wide visibility – check out some of our sponsorship packages here.
Remember to register early – and don’t miss out!
Technology Workshop – AI4Blades Challenge
Introducing the AI4Blades Challenge – a chance for you to access real-world data for cutting-edge research, developing AI and machine learning solutions to boost wind turbine performance!
How does it work?
- Candidate groups work with BAM’s KI-VISIR raw dataset which includes over 2,200 high-res images and 1,200 thermograms.
- Submit a team proposal.
- Finalists are invited to present at WindEurope’s Technology Workshop 2025 from 19-20 June in Istanbul.
- After a special jury evaluation, the winning team will get a cash prize of €3,000!
This is a chance to make a lasting contribution to industry knowledge, and to work as part of a team of experts in AI, data science and beyond. If you and a group of colleagues are interested, check out the Terms & Conditions and apply before 31 March!
RE-Source 2025
Join us at Europe’s leading forum for renewable energy buyers and sellers – as we push for collaboration and innovation to accelerate the energy transition. By coming to RE-Source 2025 you can:
- Network with 1,400+ participants.
- Learn from and engage with 100+ senior political and industry speakers.
- Make the most of the 350+ prescheduled B2B meetings between clean energy buyers and suppliers.
More info on this in the coming months. Click here for a recap of the last edition of RE-Source. In the meantime, remember to save the date.
Careers
By joining WindEurope, you will be working at the cutting edge of wind energy policy: what we do here positively affects the future of Europe and the wider world as well.
Become a part of our team and see how you can help shape Europe’s energy transition! Check out some testimonials from our team on our careers page – plus a full list of WindEurope benefits. And see our current job openings below:
