Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Offshore Wind Energy: Action needed to deliver on the Energy Policy Objectives for 2020 and beyond
Date: 2008-11-13
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: energy policy, environmental protection, ocean, reduction of gas emissions, sea, security of supply, wind energy

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 12.12.2008 
COM(2008) 768 final/2 

CORRIGENDUM: 
Replaces COM 768 of 13.11.2008. 
Concerns all linguistic versions. 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Offshore Wind Energy:  
Action needed to deliver on the Energy Policy Objectives for 2020 and beyond 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Action needed to deliver on the Energy Policy Objectives for 2020 and beyond 

Offshore Wind Energy:  

1. 

OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY — A SEA OF UNEXPLOITED OPPORTUNITIES 

Wind energy will play an essential role in meeting the objectives of the new Energy Policy for 
Europe.  Today  electricity  from  wind  provides  a  substantial  share  of  total  electricity 
production  in  only  a  handful  of  Member  States,  but  its  importance  is  increasing:  more  than 
40% of all new electricity generation capacity added to the European grid in 2007 was wind, 
making  it  the  fastest  growing  generation  technology  except  for  natural  gas1.  The  modelling 
scenario used for the Second Strategic Energy Review2 suggests that wind will represent more 
than one third of all electricity production from renewable energy sources by 2020 and almost 
40% by 2030, representing an  accumulated investment  of  at least 200-300 billion Euros  (or 
about a quarter of all power plant investments) by 2030.  

The  Commission's  Communication  of  2007  on  An  Energy  Policy  for  Europe3  stated  that  it 
will be necessary to develop further the use of oceans and seas to promote the EU's energy 
goals,  given  their  potential  to  support  the  generation  of  energy  and  to  diversify  energy 
transport routes and methods. While land-based wind energy will remain dominant in the 
immediate  future,  installations  at  sea  will  become  increasingly  important.  Compared  to 
onshore wind, offshore wind is more complex and costly4 to install and maintain but also has 
a number of key advantages. Winds are typically stronger and more stable at sea than on land, 
resulting  in  significantly  higher  production  per  unit  installed.  At  sea,  wind  turbines  can  be 
bigger  than  on  land  because  of  the  logistical  difficulties  of  transporting  very  large  turbine 
components from the place of manufacturing by road to installation sites on land. Wind farms 
at  sea  also  have  less  potential  to  cause  concern  among  neighbouring  citizens  and  other 
stakeholders unless they interfere with competing maritime activities or impact negatively on 
important marine environmental interests. In fact, wind farms at sea may be advantageous to 
protect  marine  ecosystems  and  may  generate  synergies  with  other  emerging  uses  of  the  sea 
such as offshore aquaculture, which can benefit from the substructures of wind farms. 

The  wind  resources  over  Europe's  seas  represent  a  vast,  indigenous  source  of  clean, 
renewable  energy.  By  generating  electricity  without  fossil  fuel  and  by  creating  jobs  and 
growth in a sector in which European businesses are global leaders, offshore wind can make 
a significant contribution to all three key objectives of the new Energy Policy: reducing 
greenhouse gas emissions, ensuring security of supply and improving EU competitiveness. 

1 
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4 

Source: "Pure Power" by European Wind Energy Association (EWEA). 
COM(2008) 776. 
COM(2007)1. 
See comparison of technology costs in SEC(2008) 2872. 

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In  physical  energy  terms  the  wind  resource  could  theoretically  cover  Europe's  entire 
electricity demand. However, the variability of wind, together with other technical, political 
or economic challenges and constraints in practice determine the pace and extent to which the 
significant  potential  is  harnessed.  Today,  the  potential  for  offshore  wind  energy  is  largely 
untapped: even excluding potential deepwater deployments based on floating foundations, the 
potential  exploitable  by  2020  is  likely  to  be  some  30-40  times  the  current  installed 
capacity5, and in the 2030 time horizon it could be up to 150 GW6, or some 575 TWh. A 
proactive policy is necessary to ensure that this opportunity is seized. 

While this Communication addresses specifically the actions needed for a large deployment 
of  offshore  wind,  many  of  the  challenges  and  initiatives  presented  are  also  of  relevance  for 
other  EU  offshore  renewable  energy  resources,  such  as  tidal,  wave,  thermal  and  marine 
current energy. These offshore energy resources, although less developed than wind energy, 
are also emerging and will be able to contribute to the goals of Europe's Energy Policy. 

In  this  context  the  scope  for  synergy  between  Europe's  energy  policy  and  the  new  EU 
integrated maritime policy7 is wide and is likely to increase in the future.  The fundamentals 
of  both  policies  are  the  same:  both  aim  for  an  integration  of  economic  development  and 
environmental protection. If joined up, they will allow a better exploration of the geopolitical 
value of Europe's oceans and seas for energy security, competitiveness and sustainability8. 

2. 

AN EMERGING MARKET FACED WITH MANY CHALLLENGES 

2.1. 

Improvements to the overall framework are on the way 

Like  other  renewable  energy  technologies  offshore  wind  needs  clear,  stable  and 
favourable  framework  conditions  if  it  is  to  develop  its  potential  in  competition  with 
conventional  energy  sources.  At  EU  level,  the  main  regulatory  instruments  to  provide  that 
have so far been the general internal electricity market legislation9, the "Renewable Electricity 
Directive"10, the EU Emissions Trading Scheme11 and the Community guidelines on state aid 
for environmental protection12.  

This  existing  framework  is  developed  in  the  Commission's  "third  internal  energy  market 
package" of October 200713 and in the "energy and climate package" presented in January 
200814.  The  timely  adoption  and  implementation  of  these  two  packages  will  form  the 
EU's main contribution to promoting offshore wind and renewable energy in general. The 
improvements  proposed  include  binding  targets,  instruments  to  encourage  stronger  regional 

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Of the 56,5 GW installed in the EU at the end of 2007 only 1,1 GW was offshore (Source: EWEA).  
The modelling work performed for the Second Strategic Energy Review suggest some 31 GW by 2020. 
EWEA's "low", "medium" and "high" estimates published in March, are 20, 35 or 40 GW by 2020, and 
40, 120 or 150 GW by 2030, respectively. The European Environment Agency is expected to publish an 
independent resource estimate in late 2008. 
 COM(2007) 575, 10.10.2007 
See  Commission  Staff  Working  Document  entitled  "Energy  policy  and  maritime  policy:  ensuring  a 
better fit", SEC (2007)1283, 10.10.2007. 
OJ L 176, 15.7.2003. 
OJ L 283 27.10.2001. 
OJ L 275, 25.10.2003, p. 32 
OJ C 82, 1.4.2008, p. 1. 
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/electricity/package_2007/index_en.htm 
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/climate_actions/index_en.htm 

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cooperation  between  energy  regulators  and  between  system  operators,  and  more  robust 
requirements  on  Member  States  to  streamline  their  planning  and  authorisation  procedures, 
provide grid access and reduce administrative barriers. 

However,  certain  barriers  affect  offshore  wind  projects  specifically  or  to  a  particular 
degree.  Following  a  public  stakeholder  consultation  conducted  earlier  in  200815,  the 
Commission has identified four key areas which require special attention. 

2.2. 

A sector facing particular industrial and technological challenges 

Compared  to  onshore  wind  energy,  offshore  wind  is  still  relatively  expensive  and 
technologically  undeveloped.  Some  early  projects  were  essentially  offshore  applications  of 
moderately adapted onshore technologies and experienced unexpected technical problems, for 
example with the reliability of turbine components such as gear boxes and transformers. This 
has made investors more cautious, has made it harder to finance projects and entails higher 
costs  because  of  the  risk  premiums  required  by  investors.  Equally,  the  experience  to  date 
shows the importance of bringing down the costs of installation, operation and maintenance 
which are much higher in the rougher and less accessible sea environment than on land. 

The current structure of the industry complicates this situation further. Today very few turbine 
manufacturers  have  long  and  large-scale  experience  with  machines  deployed  in  offshore 
applications — this reduces the level of competition and innovation and further increases the 
cost differential to  onshore wind. Moreover, there are bottlenecks at various  points in  the 
supply  chain  —  the  limited  availability  of  turbine  components,  affordable  installation 
vessels,  suitable  harbour  facilities  and  similar  equipment  and  infrastructures  as  well  as  of 
skilled personnel with the necessary mix of qualifications is a key barrier. 

Existing foundation technologies are limited to relatively shallow waters (typically less than 
30 metres of depth). Large-scale introduction of offshore wind would be greatly facilitated by 
technologies enabling deployment in deep waters, but cost-effective solutions still have to be 
demonstrated in real applications. 

At  present  offshore  wind  competes  on  the  one  hand  with  onshore  wind  for  the  existing 
turbine production capacity and on the other with the oil and gas exploration industry 
for the existing offshore equipment and expertise. In this "double-squeeze" the pioneers are 
struggling to work up from a niche market to a full scale industry because investors are wary 
of  making  substantial  investments  in  R&D  and  in  the  required  increases  in  supply  chain 
capacity as long as the technology is still climbing up the learning curve.  

2.3. 

Lack of integrated strategic planning and cross-border coordination 

In  contrast  to  spatial  planning  on  land,  Member  States  generally  have  limited  experience 
with, and sometimes inadequate governance structures and rules for, integrated spatial 
planning in the marine environment. The lack of processes looking simultaneously at the 
spatial distribution of the wind resources, at constraints imposed by other marine activities or 
interests, and at electricity grid aspects tends to increase uncertainty and the risk of delays in 
or failure of projects at sea. This applies equally to other renewable ocean resources such as 
tidal and wave energy. 

15 

A summary of the consultation feedback is available at 
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/res/consultation/offshore_wind_energy_en.htm  

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Moreover,  the  absence  of  points  of  access  to  the  electricity  grids  at  sea  leads  to 
uncertainties about the ability to, or costs of, connecting to the grid and creates additional 
risks for offshore projects.  

On a more positive note, offshore projects can represent an opportunity for creating lines that 
both connect new generation capacity and establish or increase transmission capacity between 
different  regions  in  the  internal  electricity  market.  However,  such  potential  synergies 
between  offshore  projects  and  cross-border  inter-connectors  are  currently  not  being 
exploited16.  One  reason  for  this  is  the  additional  complexities  that  cross-border  cooperation 
entails because of the need to deal with different planning and regulatory regimes. However, 
without cross-border coordination, grid investments risk being sub-optimal in that they will be 
viewed from an individual project perspective rather than from a system perspective. Offshore 
projects that depend on new cross-border connectors are thus more vulnerable to uncertainties 
arising  from  differences  in  regulatory  regimes  such  as  support  schemes  and  rules  on  grid 
investment cost recovery.  

The  need  for  better  cross-border  cooperation  is  not  only  limited  to  network  planning  and 
development, but also relates to system operation and management. Increasing offshore wind 
penetration  may  have  consequences  which  need  to  be  reflected  in  power  congestion 
management strategies and generation/demand balancing plans, and in improved mechanisms 
for cross-border trade and balancing power markets. 

2.4. 

Lack  of  knowledge  and  information  sharing  hampers  a  smooth  application  of 
EU environmental legislation 

Offshore electricity production is relatively new or even non-existent in most Member States, 
and  the  experience  in  applying  EU  environmental  legislation  such  as  the  "Birds"17, 
"Habitats"18 and "Environmental Impact Assessment"19 Directives in respect of such projects 
is still comparatively scarce. In practice this means that developers of offshore projects face 
additional uncertainties that can lead to extra delays and costs. 

One  factor  which  needlessly  frustrates  offshore  projects  is  the  delays  in  Member  States' 
designation  of  protected  areas  under  the  Habitats  and  Birds  Directives  in  the  marine 
environment.  Failure  to  identify  such  areas  increases  uncertainty  about  the  potential 
suitability of any given site for wind farms. Without the necessary data on marine ecosystems 
and  information  about  where  sensitive  or  protected  habitats  and  species  occur,  impact 
assessments and consenting procedures may be longer and subject to more disputes. 

Another  factor  relates  to  awareness  about  up-to-date  knowledge  about  the  impacts  of  wind 
farms  on  natural  habitats  and  species.  Such  information  needs  to  be  generated  and  shared 
more  systematically  to  facilitate  environmental  impact  assessments.  Although  a  substantial 
and rapidly developing body of scientific literature exists, much of it is recent and unknown to 
many local, regional and national authorities and stakeholders. In this situation, developers 
risk being subject to excessive and expensive environmental assessment and monitoring 

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The  nature  of  these  possible  synergies  are  well  illustrated  in  a  recent  report  by  consultants  3E:  see 
http://www.greenpeace.org/eu-unit/press-centre/reports/A-North-Sea-electricity-grid-(r)evolution. 
OJ L 103, 25.4.1979. 
OJ L 206, 22.7.1992. 
OJ L 175, 5.7.1985. 

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requirements  which  might  have  been  avoided  if  state-of-the-art  knowledge  had  been  taken 
into account.  

2.5. 

Dealing with bottlenecks and power balancing in the onshore electricity grids 

For a number of reasons, electricity generation from offshore projects will tend to be less 
geographically dispersed than onshore wind and many other RES technologies.  

Firstly,  the  need  to  establish  dedicated  grid  connections  to  points  far  out  at  sea  makes 
economies of scale particularly important if offshore projects are to be competitive (especially 
in the case of regulatory regimes where connection costs are paid by the developer rather than 
through  system  tariffs).  This  alone  means  that  offshore  projects  will  tend  to  be  bigger  than 
onshore projects.  

Secondly, all offshore energy is produced in areas with no demand (apart from perhaps some 
consumption on oil and gas platforms), so all the production feed-in points are concentrated 
on the coastline. 

In a scenario with large-scale  development of offshore wind power, this will  challenge the 
capacity  of  the  existing  system  to  balance  generation  and  demand  and  to  transmit  the 
power  to  the  consumption  centres,  many  of  which  are  inland.  In  some  Member  States, 
especially  in  Germany,  bottlenecks  already  exist  or  are  expected  in  the  event  of  significant 
wind capacity expansion in the North Sea, and the need for further interconnection capacity 
has been demonstrated e.g. by the German Dena I study20. 

3. 

THE WAY FORWARD 

3.1. 

Investing in the future competitiveness of the EU wind energy industry  

Bringing offshore wind out of the shadow cast by its nearest competitors for investments — 
onshore wind and offshore oil and gas exploration — will require dedicated efforts to develop 
technology and supply chain infrastructures over the decades to come. The Strategic Energy 
Technology Plan (SET-Plan)21, presented in 2007 and endorsed by the European Council in 
March  2008,  constitutes  together  with  the  Seventh  Framework  Programme  for  research, 
technological  development  and  demonstration  (FP7)22  and  the  Intelligent  Energy 
Programme  (IEE)23  the  overall  EU  framework  within  which  these  challenges  should  be 
addressed.  In  addition,  the  Union's  Cohesion  Policy  Funds  will  support  investments  of  over 
787  M€  in  wind  energy,  including  possibilities   for  offshore  projects,  for  the  period  2007-
2013.  As  the  Cohesion  Policy  Funds  also  can  support  investments  for  sustainable  energy, 
including wind energy, under other headings like Research and Development (total allocation 
of €63,6 bn), the actual support to the wind energy  area from the Cohesion Policy is expected 
to be much higher. 

The  SET-Plan  identified  doubled  output  of  the  largest  wind  turbines,  with  offshore  wind  as 
the  lead  application,  as  a  key  challenge  for  meeting  the  2020  targets,  and  proposed  a 

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www.offshore-wind.de/page/index.php?id=2605&L=1 
COM(2007) 723, 22.11.2007. 
OJ L 412, 30.12.2006, p. 1. 
OJ L 310, 9.11.2006, p. 15. 

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European  Industrial  Initiative  on  Wind  Energy.  The  aim  is  to  foster  market  deployment 
and  bring  down  the  cost  of  wind  energy,  but  given  that  onshore  wind  is  already  among  the 
most competitive technologies the Commission believes that offshore wind should be a key 
priority of the initiative. While it may be tempting for industry to concentrate on reaping the 
benefits  of  the  currently  booming  onshore  market,  investing  in  offshore  will  be  critical  to 
maintaining the EU's global technology leadership and will prepare the ground for new export 
markets.  There  will  also  be  important  positive  spill-over  effects  on  other  related  markets,  a 
good  example  being  modern  High  Voltage  Direct  Current  (HVDC)  cable  technology  where 
European industry has a unique potential24.  

For these reasons, the Commission has given more emphasis to offshore wind under FP7 
starting  with  the  2009  energy  work  programme.  The  Strategic  Research  Agenda25  of  the 
Technology Platform for Wind Energy (TP Wind)26 published in July 2008 includes proposals 
for  priority  research  areas  for  offshore  wind  which  are  a  welcome  input  to  prioritising  and 
coordinating future EU and national research efforts. In this context, Member States are also 
encouraged to make further use of the opportunity offered by Cohesion Policy Funds in the 
area of research and development. 

As demonstrated in the Strategic Research Agenda there are questions about the adequacy 
of current levels of support for research into wind energy, including offshore, given the 
new ambitious direction of Europe's energy policy, and the Commission will consider this 
issue  further  in  the  context  of  the  Communication  on  financing  low  carbon  technologies 
announced  in  the  SET-plan.  In  the  same  context,  options  for  combining  public,  industry 
and  other  private  resources  within  the  industrial  initiative  will  be  considered  to  ensure 
sufficient focus on offshore aspects. 

In terms of skilled workers, installation vessels and other specialised resources, offshore wind 
at present competes unevenly with oil and gas production. However, with time the common 
ground between offshore renewables and the oil and gas industry can be turned into an 
asset  if  the  opportunities  are  seized  in  coastal  areas  to  achieve  a  managed,  gradual 
transition  to  new  energies.  Many  regions  in  Europe  are  already  realising  the  potential  for 
future  jobs,  growth  and  economic  regeneration  that  lies  in  redeploying  existing  skills  and 
resources from fisheries, shipbuilding and harbours in decline and other  potentially relevant 
industry  sectors.  While  high  oil  prices  are  likely  to  stimulate  continued  investments  in 
European oil and gas production for some time to come, production has peaked and it is time 
to start planning the transition and harnessing the necessary new skills. EU programmes such 
as  Intelligent  Energy  Europe  and  programmes  under  the  Cohesion  Policy  are  already  being 
used  to  fund  projects  taking  a  proactive  approach  in  the  adjustment  to  renewables  and 
supporting the development of offshore wind27.  

3.2. 

Adopting a more strategic, coordinated approach to offshore developments 

As  explained  above,  a  more  strategic  and  coordinated  approach  will  be  important  for 
exploiting  Europe's  wind  resources  in  a  cost-effective  way,  and  a  range  of  planning 
instruments and forums at EU or regional level may play a role in this respect. 

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See for example the "Electra initiative": http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/electr_equipment/electra.htm  
www.windplatform.eu/92.0.html  
www.windplatform.eu  
Examples include www.power-cluster.net, www.offshore-power.net and www.windskill.eu. 

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From  a  renewable  energy  source  perspective,  the  Commission  has  proposed  that  the  new 
Directive on energy from renewable sources should contain an obligation for Member States 
to prepare National Action Plans28. This will be an opportunity for Member States to set out a 
consistent  framework  for  the  contribution  of  different  renewable  energy  sources  and 
technologies. It would appear appropriate for Member States with offshore renewable energy 
resources to spell out the expected contribution to their 2020 target in this context. 

From  a  marine  environmental  perspective,  the  implementation  of  the  recently  adopted 
Marine  Strategy  Framework  Directive29  will  be  an  opportunity  for  Member  States  to 
consider offshore wind farms in their overall assessment of the pressure and impacts on the 
marine  environment,  and  whether  these  are  likely  to  affect  the  attainment  of  the  "good 
environmental  status"  objectives  of  that  Directive.  In  this  context,  the  regional  sea 
conventions (OSPAR, HELCOM, MAP, BSC etc.) may also contribute to better coordination 
and much work has already been done e.g. in relation to environmental assessments30. 

From  an  electricity  grid  perspective,  the  regional  cooperation  within  the  new  European 
Network  of  Transmission  System  Operators  (ENTSO)  proposed  under  the  "third 
package"31  and  their  related  grid  development  and  investment  plans  will  be  important  new 
tools  for  coordination,  and  European  Transmission  System  Operators  support  the  idea  of 
dedicated regional offshore wind energy grid plans. The new Agency for the Cooperation of 
Energy  Regulators  and  the  existing  regional  initiatives  will  also  play  an  important  role  in 
coordinating regulatory matters, to ensure that improved markets mechanisms (including for 
balancing  power  and  cross-border  trade)  and  more  coordinated,  flexible  and  favourable 
conditions encouraging investment in transnational offshore grids are put in place. Moreover, 
the  European  coordinators  appointed  under  the  TEN-E  guidelines32  (including  the 
coordinator  for  offshore  wind  in  Northern  Europe)  have  specifically  been  tasked  with 
promoting  the  European  dimension  of  certain  projects  by  facilitating  cross-border  dialogue 
and with helping to coordinate national procedures for consulting stakeholders. 

The challenge is to ensure that the various processes are linked up and at the same time 
to  exploit  their  specific  advantages,  resources  and  expertise.  As  explained  in  the 
Commission's Communication on an Integrated Maritime Policy for the EU33 the long-term 
vision  for  the  management  of  the  seas  must  be  to  move  towards  genuinely  integrated 
maritime  spatial  planning,  and  the  Commission  will  present  a  roadmap  to  this  end  before 
the end of 2008. Such an approach could provide a framework for balancing and arbitrating 
between different sectoral interests and set stable conditions for investments. To make timely 
progress towards this end, practical steps and experience from processes driven forward 
by actual, sectoral needs of high political priority will be necessary.  

In  this  perspective  the  current  German-Swedish-Danish  work  to  explore  the  possibility  of  a 
joint connection solution for the three offshore wind farms all located at Krieger's Flak in the 
Baltic  Sea,  which  is  strongly  supported  by  the  European  coordinator,  will  yield  valuable 
experience  of  how  to  share  the  potential  socio-economic  benefits  of  a  common  solution 
combining  new  wind  farms  and  interconnections.  The  Commission  will  support  and 

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COM(2008) 19, 23.1.2008. 
OJ L 164, 25.6.2008, p. 19. 
See www.ospar.org and www.environmentalexchange.info  
COM(2007) 528. 
OJ L 262, 22.9.2006. 
COM(2007) 575, 10.10.2007. 

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complement  the  efforts  of  the  European  coordinator  to  bring  together  the  various 
processes, authorities and stakeholders, to develop 'best practice' through specific cases, 
and to stimulate the emergence of similar cooperation efforts elsewhere, beginning with 
the  North  Sea.  It  will  notably  ensure  close  interaction  with  EU  funded  projects  of  specific 
relevance such as NORSEWiND34 and WINDSPEED35. 

3.3.  Maximising the environmental benefits of offshore wind 

The environmental benefits of wind energy as a clean source of electricity with no emissions 
of greenhouse gases or local air pollution and the benefits in terms of security of supply are 
widely recognised, and the overwhelming majority of Europeans have a very positive attitude 
to  wind  energy36.  The  avoidance  of  water  consumption  compared  to  thermal  electricity 
production  and  the  positive,  global  and  long-term  contribution  to  preserving  biodiversity  in 
terms of climate change mitigation are less well known but also significant. 

Locally,  however,  individual  projects  are  sometimes  the  cause  of  concern  because  of  visual 
landscape changes, noise or effects on local biodiversity and habitats. If located far from the 
coast only the latter is potentially a problem for offshore wind farms, and experience to date 
shows  that  it  rarely  actually  is:  monitoring  programmes  at  existing  offshore  wind  farms 
have  shown  that  it  is  quite  possible  to  construct  even  large  farms  without  significant 
impacts on local biodiversity and habitats.  

Nevertheless,  farms  that  are  not  properly  situated  may  affect  sensitive  species  and  habitats. 
Such  potential  problems  should  be  identified  at  an  early  stage  through  strategic 
assessments, and if necessary addressed through appropriate mitigation measures to avoid or 
minimise any significant adverse effects. 

The  Commission  considers  that  the  existing  EU  legislation  on  nature  and  environmental 
assessments  is  an  adequate  framework  which  is  flexible  enough  to  deal  with  these 
aspects. It recognises, however, that further guidance on its application in the specific context 
of wind farms in or near protected or sensitive nature areas might help create further certainty 
for developers, authorities and other stakeholders. Therefore, the Commission services  will 
step-up work to develop guidance on nature and wind farms with the aim of finalising it 
in  2009  at  the  latest.  Options  for  providing,  maintaining  and  disseminating  state-of-the-art 
overviews  of  scientific  findings  about  environmental  impacts  of  wind  power  will  be 
considered  in  this  context.  In  addition,  the  Commission  will  continue  work  to  establish  a 
European Marine Observation and Data network (EMODNET) to facilitate access to data that 
can underpin environmental impact assessments 

As stressed above, striking the right balance between the different interests involved in siting 
offshore wind farms is facilitated by strategic planning. The designation of marine Natura 
2000  sites  under  the  Habitats  and  Birds  Directives  is  therefore  important  for  creating 
certainty for developers. These designations are long overdue, and a guide has already been 

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NORSEWiND is a new project funded by FP7 designed to provide a wind resource map covering the 
Baltic, Irish and North Sea areas using a combination of traditional meteorological masts, ground based 
remote sensing instruments and satellite acquired data. 
Supported by the Intelligent Energy Europe programme WINDSPEED aims to develop a roadmap for 
deployment  of  offshore  wind  energy  in  the  Central  and  Southern  North  Sea  taking  all  spatial  marine 
interactions into account.  
Special Eurobarometer, January 2007. http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_262_en.pdf  

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prepared by the Commission to assist Member States in identifying and selecting marine sites. 
The ball is clearly in the Member States' court and the Commission will take all necessary 
measures to ensure that sites are designated in a timely and appropriate manner. 

3.4. 

Integrating large-scale offshore wind in the grid of the future 

The  large-scale  development  of  offshore  wind  energy  may  make  bottlenecks  in  the  existing 
electricity  grid  more  likely  if  the  grid  is  not  adapted  to  the  changes  in  the  generation 
infrastructure.  This  problem  is  already  being  explored  by  the  European  coordinator  for 
offshore wind in Northern Europe, and it is also subject to detailed technical investigations in 
projects such as TradeWind37 and the European Wind Integration Study (EWIS38). 

Before the exact extent and nature of the problem has been better quantified, it is not possible 
to  provide  a  final  answer  on  how  to  address  it.  Any  response  is  likely  to  involve  new 
transmission capacity and input from modern "smart grid" technologies involving intelligent 
demand management, energy storage (possibly through greater electrification of the transport 
sector) and, more generally, systems integration. 

The  Green  Paper  on  European  Energy  Networks  adopted  in  parallel  to  this  communication, 
further  work  by  the  European  coordinator  and  the  closer  cooperation  between  Energy 
Regulators  and  Transmission  System  Operators  as  discussed  in  section  3.2  will,  however, 
provide the appropriate, wider context for this whole debate. 

4. 

CONCLUSIONS 

Offshore wind energy is an indigenous resource for electricity production with a vast potential 
that remains largely untapped. Offshore wind can and must make a substantial contribution to 
meeting the EU's energy policy objectives through a very significant increase — in the order 
of 30-40 times by 2020 and 100 times by 2030 — in installed capacity compared to today. 

However,  developing  the  necessary  technology  and  industrial  supply  chain  capacity  and 
getting  projects  through  the  planning  and  consenting  processes  takes  time.  To  make  the 
required investments in time for 2020, the industry urgently needs more certainty and stable, 
favourable  framework  conditions.  The  binding  20%  target  for  renewable  energy  and  the 
energy  and  climate  package  will  be  key  to  achieving  this,  but  Member  States  with  offshore 
wind resources will need to use this framework and the proposed national action plans to spell 
out clearly their ambitions for offshore wind and take the necessary action.  

For its part, the Commission will apply to the full all relevant existing or recently launched 
EU initiatives as outlined above, and will take further steps if necessary. It will in particular:  

•  seek  to  facilitate  regional  cooperation  on  offshore  energy  site-and  grid  planning 
between  Member  States,  energy  regulators,  transmission  system  operators  (TSOs)  and 
other relevant stakeholders, using instruments such as those established by the "third 
package"  and  the  coordination  platform  set  up  by  the  European  coordinator  for 
offshore wind connections in the Baltic and North Sea areas;  

37 
38 

www.trade-wind.eu 
www.wind-integration.eu 

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•  encourage the Members States to implement maritime spatial planning based on the 
principles  of  the  forthcoming  Commission  roadmap  on  maritime  spatial  planning  to 
regulate  the  competing  and  growing  uses  of  the  seas  via  transparent  decision  making 
processes and to achieve optimal site selection.  

•  encourage  TSOs  and  energy  regulators  to  step-up  cooperation  to  urgently  put  in  place 
more  favourable  regulatory  conditions  for  investments  in  transnational  offshore 
grids, for cross-border trade and for the development of efficient balancing power markets; 

•  emphasise  offshore  related  research  under  the  Seventh  Framework  Programme  for 
research,  technological  development  and  demonstration  (FP7)  and,  in  the  context  of  the 
European  Industrial Initiative on Wind Energy and the Communication on financing low 
carbon technologies announced in the SET-plan, review the possibilities for stepping up 
support to accelerate the development and market deployment of offshore wind and 
other marine renewables in the light of the EU's new energy policy objectives ; 

•  emphasise  in  future  calls  under  the  Intelligent  Energy-Europe  programme  actions  to 

tackle the main non-technological barriers to the use of offshore wind energy; 

•  finalise  the  specific  guidance  on  the  application  of  the  EU  nature  conservation 
legislation in the context of wind farms and take all necessary measures to ensure that 
Member  States  designate  marine  protected  areas  under  the  Birds  and  Habitats 
Directives in a timely way, so as to improve planning certainty for project developers and 
contribute to the EU's biodiversity objectives; 

•  consider the large-scale integration of offshore wind in the electricity grids as one of 
the key issues for the follow-up of the  Green Paper  on European Energy Networks, 
taking into account ongoing studies and work by the European TSOs. 

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