The Ministry of Economic Affairs on Thursday set a target to expand offshore wind capacity by as much as eightfold by 2039, doubling down on the technology to curb reliance on imported fossil fuels despite mounting challenges facing the industry.The ministry released an updated offshore wind road map targeting 18.3 to 19.9 gigawatts of installed capacity by 2035 and 27.9 gigawatts by 2039. The target for 2035 is 18.4 gigawatts.Last year saw 3.4 gigawatts of installed capacity, BloombergNEF said.
Offshore wind turbines are pictured in an undated photograph.
The plan comes despite headwinds for offshore wind at home and abroad.Projects have struggled to move forward due to rising supply chain costs, strict localization requirements and tougher environmental approvals, forcing policymakers to retreat from a target last year of having 20 percent of its energy produced by renewable sources.
Still, there is growing pressure to speed up renewable energy rollout as the war in the Middle East disrupts natural gas supplies and pushes up the cost of imported fuel.The nation also became more reliant on energy imports after shutting its last nuclear reactor last year.The ministry plans to hold offshore wind project auctions every four years, allocating about 8 gigawatts of capacity in each round, it said in the statement.Power demand is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 2.5 percent from this year to 2035, driven by the expansion in the semiconductor, artificial intelligence and technology sectors, the ministry said.
