Wind in Europe: Industry Scale
Figures and data noted below come from the Wind Europe document ‘Wind Energy in Europe: 2023 Statistics and the outlook for 2024-2030.’
I am on my way back from attending the Wind Europe conference (Bilbao, Spain, March 2024). One major reason I found it valuable is because it offered a glimpse into the future of what is possible in Atlantic Canada for the onshore and offshore wind sectors.
Of course, the scale of the industry across the European continent would be difficult to match, but Atlantic Canada has incredibly rich resources and a very large geographic area. So what might be possible?
In this post I am going to share information about the scope of the wind sector in Europe. Later this week, I am going to share another post on what businesses in Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia should be considering when preparing for this new industry.
The bar chart below shows the new wind installations in Europe for each year, for the past 10 years.
Notice that the Y-axis (on the left) shows GW. As a comparison, Muskrat Falls generates 0.824 GW (824 MW), the Upper Churchill in Labrador 5.428 GW (5428 MW).
All of the existing wind installations in Europe have the capacity to generate 272 GW of wind power (238 GW is onshore, 34 GW is offshore).
An average existing onshore wind turbine generates 4.5 MW, and the average existing offshore wind turbine generates 8.0 MW. To generate the 18 GW installed in 2023, using mostly 4.5 GW onshore turbines, means there were a lot of turbines installed in 2023.
Decommissioning
This industry has been happening in Europe for 20+ years, so much so that they decommissioned 736 MW of existing turbines in 2023. You can repower turbines at the end of their life (if the conditions and designs are adequate), but some are decommissioned because some of the components of those existing turbines are reaching the end of their useful life. For example, it may mean that the tower wouldn’t support a modern nacelle and blades.
Electricity Generation
Much of the generation in Europe is for electricity generation, with their continent wide goals of energy independence and climate action goals.
The image below shows the total capacity of wind (onshore and offshore), and the percentage of electricity demand satisfied by electricity generated by wind turbines. These are significant numbers.
They have very ambitious goals set for added wind generated electricity in Europe - with a goal to add 260 GW before 2030.
A small number of the projects proposed in Europe are meant for hydrogen generation - as is proposed in Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia - for which the project developers are proposing to build hydrogen facilities. In Europe these are being proposed to be built both onshore and offshore (similar looking structure as an oil platform, with a structure above the surface, but the support sitting on the seabed).
To add 260 GW of capacity in Europe, and the even larger goals around the world will require an immense effort - putting strains on supply chains and labour, but also means there will be demand for the expertise of operating in harsh ocean weather that many in the offshore oil sector have.
Conclusion
As is clear from these numbers, this is a massive industry in Europe - and due to the natural resources, deep water ports and a skilled workforce - has great potential in Atlantic Canada. What needs to be understood by business leaders, to truly understand the opportunity, is all the components within the sector: construction, engineering, transportation, operations and maintenance, and many more - and to understand each of these in depth and detail. Not to even mention (in this blog post) the hydrogen-ammonia components of the proposed projects.
With that understanding, we will be able to more closely see what opportunities there will be for businesses in rural and urban areas of our region.
Europe has been building turbines at scale for many years. If Atlantic Canada moves with ambition, what can you foresee here 20 years from now? For that envisioned future to become reality, we have to start building. What will this mean for your business? In a few days I will share another post on factors to consider to prepare your business to service this new sector.
You can read the full report from Wind Europe here.
Pedal & Shift Consulting specializes in providing strategy and executing business development tailored to the needs of technical and engineering services companies in the energy and construction sectors. We focus on the renewable energy sector and being a bridge between Atlantic Canada and Europe.