German RWE and EnBW eye offshore wind projects in Asia and the U.S.
Handelsblatt / Clean Energy Wire
German energy companies RWE and EnBW have set their eyes on growing offshore wind markets outside Europe, the business daily Handelsblatt reports . “We have identified Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the U.S. as new markets for offshore wind energy” to always have a good amount of new projects in the pipeline and remain among the global frontrunners, RWE Renewables head Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath said. RWE is the world’s second largest offshore wind park operator, writes Handelsblatt, and “of course we would like to become number one in the long term,” Dotzenrath added. RWE currently has 2,200 megawatts of offshore wind capacity in operation, while the number one, Danish company Orsted, has 4,400 megawatts.
German EnBW’s board of management member Dirk Güsewell told the newspaper the new markets in Asia and the U.S. are developing well and offer many opportunities. “However, competition in the new markets is fierce and tougher than we had originally thought.” In the U.S., the renewables industry hopes for a growth impetus from the new administration under President Joe Biden. RWE’s Dotzenrath describes the market as "very dynamic." In New York, the first tender is due at the end of the year - "we want to participate in that.”
Energy research and business intelligence provider Rystad Energy expects global offshore project commitments to reach a new record level in the five-year period to 2025, cumulatively reaching almost 600 projects. Eighty percent of installed offshore capacity is located in Europe, but Rystad expects Asia to draw even by 2025 already, writes Handelsblatt. While cost breakthroughs took several years to materialise and sweeping policy changes gave Germany's emerging offshore industry a rough start, a sudden cost drop in auctions has given offshore wind power a fresh boost in the country that is set to prelude a global expansion streak for the technology. But industry observers warn that Germany's offshore industry might still need support to assert itself internationally.
