OMNI Features｜Hywind Scotland Wind Farm to Temporarily Halt Operations for Heavy Maintenance / WindEurope Reveals 17 GW of New Wind Energy Development for 2023 in EU Shortfall from the Annual 30 GW Target Requires Accelerated Progress / Denmark revises 6GW tender materials

Source: Equinor

Hywind Scotland, the World's First Commissioning Floating Offshore Wind Farm, to Temporarily Halt Operations for Heavy Maintenance
Located in the Scottish waters, the floating wind farm, Hywind Scotland, developed by Norwegian developer Equinor, has been in operation for 7 years since 2017, featuring Siemens Gamesa turbines. It recently announced a 3 to 4-month interruption in its commissioning for subsequent maintenance work. Developed by Equinor with approval from the Scottish government in 2015, Hywind Scotland is the world's first commissioning floating offshore wind farm, boasting a capacity of 30MW.

Equinor plans to tow the turbines to the Wergeland port in Norway during the summer. Wergeland, being the closest to the Hywind Scotland site, with sufficient water depth and offshore wind experience, will handle the corresponding onshore engineering tasks on behalf of Equinor.

WindEurope Data Reveals 17 GW of New Wind Energy Development in the EU for 2023
The Shortfall from the Annual 30 GW Target Requires Accelerated Progress
According to WindEurope data, wind energy accounted for 19% of the overall electricity in Europe last year (2023). Germany led in newly installed wind power capacity, followed by the Netherlands and Sweden. The Netherlands notably constructed the latest offshore wind farms, including the 1.5 GW Hollandse Kust Zuid facility, currently the world's largest offshore wind farm. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that Europe will add 23 GW of wind power output annually from 2024 to 2028.

WindEurope notes that while the 2023 data is higher than 2022 and represents the EU's most prolific year for wind energy development in a single year, it falls short of the annual installation target of 30 GW set for achieving the 2030 carbon neutrality goal. In 2023, hydroelectric power contributed 13% to the EU's total electricity generation; solar energy accounted for 8%, and biomass energy contributed 3%. Collectively, renewable energy generation made up 44% of the total. The capacity factor for newly built onshore wind farms currently ranges between 30% and 48%, while offshore wind farms maintain a capacity factor of 50%.

Denmark revises 6GW tender materials
The Danish Energy Agency has published a revised draft of the procurement material for the upcoming 6GW tender of offshore wind before the end of 2030, with the option to overplant, for the purpose of an additional market consideration. The procurements are expected to be opened during the spring of 2024. Certain parts of the draft material are relevant for the procurement of offshore wind at Energy Island Bornholm.

The 6 GW are located as follows:
- Minimum 3 GW in the North Sea I
- Minimum 1 GW at Kattegat
- 1GW Kriegers Flak II
- 0.8-1.2 GW at Hesselø.

Reference:
renews.biz｜offshorewind.biz｜Balkan Green Energy News