Nine new countries join the Offshore Wind Alliance at COP27

The 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27), being held in Sharm el Sheikh, (Egypt), on November 8 added 9 countries which joined the Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA), committed to accelerating offshore wind development rapidly to address climate crises and energy security.

There have been 9 new countries including Belgium, Colombia, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, UK, USA to join the Global Offshore Wind Power Alliance

The Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA) is initiated by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Denmark and the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and will bring together governments and private sectors, international organizations and other stakeholders to accelerate offshore wind deployment. Nine new countries joined the Union: Belgium, Colombia, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, UK, USA. GOWA participants have agreed to work together to advance national, regional and global ambitions and remove barriers to offshore wind deployment in new and existing markets.

Offshore wind can be deployed at big scale, in a short time frame and at competitive costs – a fast and viable route to bridging the growing gap between development goals renewable energy and current rate of implementation.

Both the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) expect that offshore wind capacity will need to exceed 2000GW by 2050, from just over 60GW today, to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees and achieve net zero emissions. To this end, GOWA will aim to contribute to growth to reach a total installed capacity of at least 380GW by the end of 2030.

Belgian Energy Minister Tinne Van der Straeten said: “Belgium is one of the leaders in the offshore wind sector and is accelerating the energy transition with a quadrupling of offshore wind capacity in 2040 in the North Sea of ​​Belgium, building a mixed energy island and new connections with the North Sea Countries. The North Sea will transform into a large sustainable power plant. With this green acceleration, we can replace gas and oil faster with offshore wind and green hydrogen. By doing so, we will increase energy independence, reduce bills for households and industry, and reduce CO2 emissions. The launch of this alliance is a great opportunity to export Belgium’s knowledge and expertise in this area to other parts of the world, to accelerate the energy transition and limit overheating globally at 1.5°C.”

The 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27), being held in Sharm el Sheikh, (Egypt)

Colombian Energy Minister Irene Velez Torres said, “The Global Offshore Wind Alliance aligns with our priorities and with our addition we want to announce that Colombia is today a great power, global nation for life and is committed not only to the energy transition but also to the transformation of society through the incorporation of unconventional renewable energy sources into our energy systems.”

Tomas Anker Christensen, Climate Ambassador of Denmark, said: “Offshore wind power is central to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and phasing out energy produced by fossil fuels. With the participation of policymakers, international organizations and actors from the entire value chain, the Global Offshore Wind Alliance was born to create political momentum and drive action by how to share best practices to ensure an efficient, cost-effective and equitable transition to offshore wind.”

Director General, International Renewable Energy Agency Francesco la Camera said, “Offshore wind is a unique opportunity for countries to add large volumes of new zero-carbon electricity, increasing their climate ambitions. development and their Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). Offshore wind power can not only compete with fossil fuel-powered power sources, but it can also provide a huge boost to investment and job creation.”

According to Global Wind Energy Council CEO Ben Backwell, “There is a large and growing gap between what is needed to achieve our climate goals and what is actually happening in implementation. Offshore wind power is the most practical technology available to many countries to bridge this gap. But the situation is not hopeless. GWEC estimates that the current announced government targets for offshore wind will raise installed capacity to 370GW – close to the 380GW target – by the end of 2030. But we will all have to go all out and work together if we are to make these goals a reality.”

The Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA) was formed by Denmark, IRENA and GWEC with the ambition to create global momentum for offshore wind development through political advocacy and creating a community global practice. GOWA’s goal is to contribute to achieving a total global offshore wind capacity of at least 380 GW by 2030, with an average of 35 GW per year in the 2020s and a minimum of 70 GW per year from 2030, peak at 2,000 GW by 2050.

GOWA’s vision is a world in which offshore wind makes a significant contribution to the energy transition and achieves the sustainability goals through generation of renewable electricity in large-scale, bring profitabl for regions, countries and important sectors such as industry and transportation.

To benefit from the enormous potential and opportunities of offshore wind, it is vital that governments, private organizations, international organizations and other stakeholders work together to eliminate the barriers to investment and financing expansion.

GOWA will work to:

• Raise ambitions for offshore wind among governments and other public and private stakeholders.

• Support the creation of effective policy frameworks and offshore wind value chains to grow new and existing markets through sharing best practices and building capacity.

• Creating an international community of practice to promote offshore wind deployment action as a key to achieving a roadmap to keeping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius.