9th Meeting of IRENA Collaborative Framework on Ocean Energy & Offshore Renewables
The eighth meeting of the Collaborative Framework on Ocean Energy/Offshore Renewables (CFOR) was organized on 26 March 2024. The main objectives of this meeting were as follows:
- Provide an overview on global offshore wind supply chain developments and how ongoing challenges need to be addressed by promoting dialogue between industry representatives and policymakers.
- Highlighting the role of ports/harbours and their needs to facilitate accelerated offshore wind deployment, also with a view in floating offshore. Focus was also placed on the policies and best practices that can support port development and how these facilities can serve as potential energy hubs.
- Presenting an overview on the necessity of grid infrastructure planning and harmonization requirements to keep up with the expected offshore wind capacity expansion.
Some of the main discussion points that arose during the meeting were as follows:
- GWEC representatives detailed the key insights of its recent report “Mission Critical: Building the Global Wind Energy Supply Chain for a 1.5 C World”. Insights from this report acted as a call to action to address potential supply chain risks, including the need for increased investment in offshore wind turbine installation vehicles (WTIVs) and ports, as well as addressing basic barriers such as grids and permitting, standardization, regionalization, clear demand signals, supportive trade policy, fundamental reform of the power market.
- The challenges and opportunities related to maritime ports were exemplified with a presentation by the Port of Rotterdam. The intervention stressed that together with facilitating component installation, bulk transportation, serving as a base for vessels, and testing wind turbine resiliency – the role of ports also emerges as electricity grid and hydrogen key nodes.
- The European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E), delivered a presentation on the recently published Offshore Network Development Plans, aiming to achieve targets in Europe of 166 GW by 2030 and 496 GW by 2050. It detailed the ambitious roadmap for deploying offshore grid corridors, which in some cases are planned as hybrid infrastructures, serving both as interconnectors between countries and as connection points for renewable energy generation offshore.
- A panel discussion among the members of the three organisations, including questions from CFOR Members, deep dived into diverse insights of the topics addressed. It was stressed the need for sustainability in the supply chains, with global inclusivity and resilience identified as key drivers. Vessels availability and long-term planning were the main priority points for port operators and stakeholders from the ports voice. On grid infrastructure, regulatory progress was acknowledged, while enhancing the cooperation among the diverse stakeholders is needed to ensure proper availability of offshore wind grid services.
The 9th meeting of the Collaborative Framework on Ocean Energy/Offshore Renewables (CFOR) will elaborate on the offshore wind supply chain issues, by facilitating a conversation with industry representatives. The focus will be on specific solutions for different market contexts, where policies and measures can effectively alleviate supply chain bottlenecks towards the acceleration of offshore wind deployment.
Meeting participation by invitation only. For more information, please contact CFoffshore@irena.org.