Climate: Timmermans (EU Commission) new “Strategy on Offshore Renewable Energy”. Harnessing sun, wind and oceans

To help meet the EU’s goal of climate neutrality by 2050, the European Commission has today presented the “EU Strategy on Offshore Renewable Energy”. The Strategy proposes to increase Europe’s offshore wind capacity: from its current level of 12 gigawatt (GW) to at least 60 GW by 2030 and to 300 GW by 2050. The Commission aims to complement this with 40 GW of ocean energy and other emerging technologies such as floating wind and solar by 2050. “This ambitious growth will be based on the vast potential across all of Europe’s sea basins and on the global leadership position of EU companies in the sector”. The Strategy was presented in Brussels today by Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal. According to the Commission’s plan, the growth will “create new opportunities for industry, generate green jobs across the continent, and strengthen the EU’s global leadership in offshore energy technologies. It will also ensure the protection of our environment, biodiversity and fisheries. “Today’s strategy shows the urgency and opportunity of ramping up our investment in offshore renewables”, Timmermans stressed. “With our vast sea basins and industrial leadership, the European Union has all that it needs to rise up to the challenge”.
Valentina Bombelli