Protecting the environment, the changes to which as a result of human activity we virtually all face on a daily basis, requires a shift away from energy based on traditional fossil fuels. An extremely important part of the energy transition process is the extensive investment in onshore and offshore wind farms. What are the most important needs of the wind energy market, the fulfillment of which will make it possible to realize the potential of wind energy?
Expectations of wind farm investors
Any investor interested in building a wind farm must be patient. The administrative procedures involved in starting this kind of investment unfortunately take a lot of time, and in fact the only way to save time is to take advantage of professional legal assistance offered by lawyers specializing in wind farm construction. In any case, the industry’s basic expectation remains that the paperwork preceding the start of a wind farm should be greatly simplified. Without this, the enormous potential inherent in wind energy simply will not be unleashed.
In the meantime, it is worth looking at statistics not only on the projected development of offshore and onshore wind, but also on those that show what has already been done. Especially in the case of offshore wind farms – which are a much more complicated legal and technological undertaking than the construction of their onshore counterparts – the global and European achievements are downright impressive. Poland, in turn, is well on its way to catching up in the area of offshore wind.
Offshore wind energy – how much capacity has been installed?
Statistics show that European waters alone have already managed to install more than 20 GW of capacity, including 2 GW in the Baltic Sea. At the same time, virtually all European countries with access to the seas are planning dynamic development of offshore wind. In the Baltic area alone, an additional 9 GW of wind farms can realistically be expected by 2030, according to Ocean Winds’ forecasts. The trend has already outlined clearly: offshore wind energy is set to become a real flywheel of the energy transition, and at the same time of the economy in general. The dynamic development of offshore wind is increasing the demand for modern technologies and employment of representatives of various types of industries.