Recently, the Port of Esbjorg, Denmark, Europe's largest offshore wind power logistics and transportation port, announced that it has received $1 billion in financing for the expansion of port supporting infrastructure to meet the needs of offshore wind power development.

Recently, the Port of Esbjorg, Denmark, Europe's largest offshore wind power logistics and transportation port, announced that it has received $1 billion in financing for the expansion of port supporting infrastructure to meet the needs of offshore wind power development. Under the global offshore wind power development boom, ports in various countries have become busier, and in order to ensure the logistics and transportation needs of offshore wind power construction, many countries have set off a boom in offshore wind power port expansion.

It is planned to significantly increase the production and supporting capacity of wind power

According to a statement from the Port of Esbjorg, it reached a cooperation agreement with the Danish labor fund PensionDanmark, which will provide funds to help the port expansion, of which $850 million will be used to increase the capacity of the port's offshore wind turbine production base, which is expected to be completed in 2027. About 100 million US dollars to build carbon capture and storage, electricity conversion and other infrastructure, planned to be put into operation by 2028; In addition, about $70 million will be used to promote the construction of multi-mode joint development facilities such as port road transportation and rail transportation, and strengthen the link between Esbjo Airport and land and sea transportation, which is expected to be realized by 2032. The remaining funds will be used to promote green fuel development and improve logistics flexibility.

It is understood that Esbjo Port is located in the North Sea region of Europe and is one of the main bases supporting the development of the European multinational offshore wind power industry. In January this year, Esbjorg Port signed a partnership cooperation agreement with a number of ports in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and other countries, hoping to solve the problem of insufficient port capacity to offshore wind power expansion, while jointly promoting the construction of offshore wind farms in European countries.

Esbjorg Port said that the acceleration of the construction of offshore wind power projects in Europe has brought great pressure to the relevant ports, and at present, Europe does not have enough offshore wind power port capacity to build offshore wind farms, and the major ports will cooperate to meet the challenges of the industry while maintaining competition in the future.

Insufficient capacity is a common problem

In fact, in addition to Europe, the world's major offshore wind markets are actively investing in the construction of offshore wind ports. In May this year, the Port of Long Beach, California, also announced the latest offshore wind power supporting infrastructure construction plan, proposing to support the production, manufacturing and assembly and transportation of offshore wind turbines, which will become the largest offshore wind supporting port facility in the United States once completed.

The wave of expansion of offshore wind ports reflects the current shortage of port capacity. It is understood that offshore wind farms need a lot of space to accommodate fan parts, cables, substation facilities, etc., and also need to support the operation and maintenance needs of offshore wind farms throughout their life cycle. From the current situation, the development of offshore wind power port supporting facilities is far from keeping up with the growth rate of offshore wind power installed capacity.

According to the latest offshore wind development Declaration signed by the UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Ireland, Luxembourg, Germany and Denmark, the nine countries will jointly develop offshore wind projects in the North Sea region, which is expected to reach 134 million kilowatts of offshore wind power installed by 2030 and exceed 300 million kilowatts by 2050. According to the Port of Esbjo, this goal requires port capacity more than twice the current port expansion target, which also means that the port logistics transport capacity needs to be increased.

Noel Canniff, CEO of the Irish Wind Energy Association, has also bluntly said that there is no professional port in Ireland that can be used to build offshore wind farms, and the existing mature ports cannot meet the needs of offshore wind power development. "Without more ports, Ireland will either miss the opportunity to meet its 2030 climate targets or will have to use ports outside of Ireland, which will result in a lost economic development opportunity for Ireland."

Infrastructure upgrades are urgently needed

According to the European Wind Energy Association, by 2030, European countries will have to invest at least $6.5 billion in port facilities to meet the needs of offshore wind power development. Previously, the report released by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory also pointed out that due to the limited existing ports and offshore wind power vessels, at present, half of the United States offshore wind power projects are at risk of being unable to install, to achieve the goal of "2030 installed capacity of 30 million kilowatts", the United States also needs to invest at least $6 billion in offshore wind power ports and ships.

Although the port investment boom has been set off, in the view of the industry, to meet the development needs of the offshore wind power industry, not only need to invest in new or expanded ports, but also need to further upgrade according to the dynamic trend of the development of the offshore wind power industry chain.

S&p Global commodities offshore wind analyst Andrew Berg said that the U.S. offshore wind industry is still facing many challenges, among which, as wind turbines become larger and larger, supporting offshore wind power vessels and ports need to accelerate to adapt to the latest trends. At present, the supporting infrastructure of offshore wind power in the United States is not mature, which has hindered the development of domestic offshore wind power supply chain.

The European Wind Energy Association suggests that from parts production to power generation, offshore wind power ports should actively cooperate with all links of the offshore wind power industry chain, integrate with the industrial ecology, promote renewable energy hydrogen production industry, and should also be used as a dispatch hub for hydrogen fuel or other energy carriers to promote carbon reduction in other high-carbon emission areas, more need to serve the local, more widely promote social green and low-carbon development. Editor/Xu Shengpeng