Four Things to Think About After Wind Europe 2024

1. Bilbao, a victim of its own success

WindEurope saw some 12,000 attendees descended on Bilbao, a city of 350,000 people. While clearly a boon for the city’s taxi drivers and restaurants, there was a sense that the event may have outgrown the city, with hotels being booked a year in advance and the organisers arranging shuttle buses from Vitoria-Gasteiz an hour away. While a bit of an inconvenience for those standing in lengthy taxi queues at the airport, the growth of the event is a clear sign of the success and expansion of the industry. Word on the street was that after next year’s trip to Copenhagen, the event could be heading to Madrid.

2. Large crowds, but a cautious atmosphere

With 12,000 attendees present, footfall at the event was strong, but the atmosphere was a little more restrained than in previous years. There were fewer developers announcing fresh renewables targets, with most focused on delivering their existing projects. While long-term optimism was still in good supply, the biggest near-term ambitions were largely possessed by specialist platforms funded to target offshore wind, with most others holding the purse strings relatively tight. This was a reminder, perhaps, that, while the market has expanded massively in recent years, today’s investment environment is highly challenging.

3. Progress made on reform, but more to work to do

The offshore wind industry has spent much of the past two years advocating for regulatory reform as it grapples with a host of challenges, and there were few signs of pressure on government to do more from industry players letting up. Siemens Gamesa was warning about supply chain over-dependency on “other parts of the globe”, while Vestas was making its frustration known at the speed of change. This reportedly prompted the Belgian energy minster to request that Vestas stop complaining. While ambitions may be aligned, then, the means to achieve them are far from uncontroversial.

4. With eyes on Bilbao, the world kept turning

While most eyes in the wind industry were locked on the Basque Country, things were afoot elsewhere. In Oslo, only two of at least twelve bidders participated in the final round of Norway’s first offshore wind auction, with most having previously pulled out of proceedings. While an exciting first for Norway, this was perhaps also a cautionary tale about initial enthusiasm not always converting in appetite to invest. Meanwhile, some industry heavy hitters were busy attending CERAWeek in Houston, where the wider complexities energy transition were under discussion and not without controversy. All this is perhaps a reminder that the real work of the energy transition will be done in the field (or on the ocean) rather than on the conference floor.

Author: Peter Lloyd-Williams