Offshore wind port alliance

Under the terms of the Esbjerg Declaration, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, and the Netherlands have a combined target of delivering at least 65 GW offshore wind by 2030.

This puts pressure on European ports, because it may not be possible to have all offshore wind farms installed in time owing to current port capacity shortage.

This has prompted Port Esbjerg in Denmark to forge an alliance with five key ports for offshore wind, namely Port Oostende (Belgium), Groningen Seaports/Eemshaven (Netherlands), Niedersachsen Port/Cuxhaven (Germany), Nantes-Saint Nazaire Port (France) and Humber (UK).

“The current geopolitical situation in Europe requires that we install even more wind power,” said Dennis Jul Pedersen, chief executive of Port Esbjerg.

“The Esbjerg Declaration proves that transboundary collaboration is the way forward. To alleviate the present capacity issues, we also need to collaborate with other ports,” he added.

Representatives of the five ports will meet twice yearly to share insights and knowledge, exploring options such as sharing projects to ensure there is adequate capacity. Port Esbjerg has already applied this method with great success in an alliance with Groningen Seaports/Eemshaven in the Netherlands, from which 18 offshore wind farms have been shipped.

This extended collaboration builds on an already existing agreement under the Green Port Hull initiative, which will see the world’s largest offshore wind farm, Hornsea Two, come online off the east coast of the UK.

The inaugural meeting of the ports will be held at the Port of Esbjerg later this year.