As part of their respective climate change mitigation strategies, the US and EU both announced ambitious offshore wind power deployment goals for the year 2030: 30 gigawatts (GW) in the US and at least 60 GW in the EU. The US-EU Energy Council High-Level Business Forum, which took place on 27 April, facilitated discussions and direct engagement between US and EU private sector and government leaders about policies needed to accelerate investment in offshore wind projects and the development of an offshore wind manufacturing base in the US.
“Achieving our country’s ambitious goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030 will simultaneously advance our own energy security, help combat the climate crisis and support an estimated 77,000 jobs in America,” said US Secretary of Energy, Jennifer M. Granholm. “By convening a US-EU Energy Council High-Level Business Forum on Offshore Wind Power, we seek to foster transatlantic partnerships that will accelerate investment to build domestic supply chains and deploy offshore wind farms in the United States.”
“Our day started with the announcement that Gazprom is unilaterally stopping delivery of natural gas to some customers in Europe,” recalled EU Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson. “This weaponisation of gas shows once again that we need to move away from Russian dependence. This is where renewable energy comes in. The European Union is already a global leader in offshore wind energy.”
Mrs Simson pointed out that today, we have 16 GW of installed offshore wind capacity and one of the most comprehensive regulatory frameworks has been put in place.
“There is a huge transatlantic business opportunity for our energy security and climate neutrality,” she said. “We are ready to support this opportunity with our US partners.”
