A global alliance for offshore wind has been formed. Led by IRENA, GWEC and Denmark, its main mission will be to unlock the potential of offshore wind.
Massive promotion of offshore wind energy
The public event, held in New York, was an opportunity to present the Alliance’s ambitions and visions.
As a result, the Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA) has set itself the challenge of increasing installed offshore wind capacity worldwide by 670%. This would increase from 57 GW in 2021 to 380 GW in 2030. The alliance intends to become a key catalyst for unlocking a resource that has a generating capacity of more than 71,000 GW worldwide.
For Danish Climate Minister Dan Jørgensen, international cooperation is a must:
“We can’t do it alone, but we need to work together in the public and private sectors, as well as across countries and regions. The Global Offshore Wind Alliance will be a platform to achieve this.”
Denmark, which initiated the alliance, is a pioneer in this field. In fact, since the 1970s, the country has been banking on the winds that sweep through it. Fifty years later, it has become the world’s per capita wind power champion. An experience that Dan Jørgensen wants to share:
“Denmark hosted the world’s first offshore wind farm in 1991. We have a lot of experience in this field and have long shared this experience with the rest of the world.”
The country will continue to invest in this area in order to do without Russian gas.
Fighting against global warming
The global alliance for offshore wind intends above all to meet climate objectives. Indeed, according to IRENA and IEA forecasts, 2,000 GW of installed offshore wind capacity are needed to reach the goal of limiting global temperatures to 1.5°C.
Laura Daniel-Davis, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, notes that the goal set by the Paris agreement cannot be met without international cooperation:
“We recognize the value of global cooperation in offshore wind and the absolute necessity for every country to do its part in addressing the climate crisis.”
Moreover, in an extremely tense geopolitical context, investing in offshore wind turbines is a way to accelerate energy independence. A way forward for Francesco La Camera, Director General of IRENA:
“Energy security and the brutal energy crisis are forcing us to reassess our world. Offshore wind technology is the gateway to new sites tapping into significant wind resources.”
Representatives of the alliance also invited new partners from the public and private sectors to join. A cooperation that they wish to increase in order to create new partnerships.
