Shortly after announcements from WindEurope and IMCA about growing concerns for the wind industry, WindEurope has released startling new investment figures.
The European industry alliance said today that investment in new wind farms on and offshore in 2022 was the lowest since 2009, at €17 billion compared with €42 billion in 2021, and nearly all financed capacity was for onshore windfarms.
“France was the only country to finance two small floating offshore wind projects with a total capacity of 60MW,” the statement said. ”Not a single commercial-scale offshore wind farm reached final investment decision (FID) in 2022. At least three commercial-scale windfarms were projected to reach FID in 2022 but delayed the decision.”
“The EU needs to build 31 GW of new wind turbines every year to reach its 2030 targets,” said WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson. “But the numbers speak a different language. Last year’s investments in new wind farms only add up to 10GW. At the same time turbine orders are down and the EU is only building half as much new wind as it needs. The EU must urgently restore investor confidence and channel money into its wind energy supply chain if it wants to reach the REPowerEU objectives.”
Of the €17 billion spent on new wind farms in 2022, Germany spent the most, followed by Finland and Poland.
Low investment has been put down to higher input costs, supply chain disruptions, rising costs for raw materials and the Russia/Ukraine war.
As a result, the cost of producing a wind turbine in Europe has increased by up to 40% over the last two years, WindEurope says.
