A review of the European offshore wind innovation system

Abstract

Offshore wind has the potential of becoming an important pillar of the future European energy system. It can contribute to policy objectives on climate change, energy security, green growth and social progress. However, the large potential of offshore wind does not automatically lead to a large share in future energy systems; neither does the emergent stage of development of the technology. Recent insights in innovation studies suggest that the success chances of technological innovations are, to a large extent, determined by how the surrounding system-the innovation system-is built up and how it functions. In this paper we assess the offshore wind innovation systems of four countries: Denmark, the UK, the Netherlands and Germany with the objective to provide recommendations for strengthening the overall European offshore wind innovation system. We use the Technological Innovation System (TIS) approach to analyse the system in 2011. Based on the analysis we identify a number of challenges that the European offshore wind sector faces. Some of them include: a serious deficiency of engineers; fragmented policies and poor alignment of national regulatory frameworks; cost of the technology and limited grid infrastructure. Since the problems hinder the entire system development we call for a systemic policy instrument that would support the innovation system around this technology and contribute to its wider diffusion in Europe.

The pace of governed energy transitions: Agency, international dynamics and the global Paris agreement accelerating decarbonisation processes?

“…This co-evolution means that solar PV is now on the verge of achieving grid parity in many parts of the world, that new business models are being enabled for off-grid regions struggling with energy access, and that global investments in solar PV have increased massively. Likewise, while today's lead market for the rollout of offshore wind power is the UK (Kern et al 2015), its progress benefited from parallel and interconnected developments in a number of countries (Wieczorek et al, 2013), such as early experimentation in Denmark and now catching-up activities in Germany, another major player in this field . A similar dynamic was at play in the development of onshore wind with Denmark originally leading the way, and now joined by turbine manufacturers from China, the US, Germany and Spain delivering the large majority of the global market which in 2015 was dominated by capacity additions in China (30.8 GW), in the US (8.6 GW), and in Germany (5.7 GW) (REN21, 2016).…”

The Political Economy of Clean Energy Transitions

“…Unlike the locally embedded offshore wind energy sector in Denmark and Germany, offshore wind in the UK has largely been developed in an open-market international fashion under the leadership of foreign companies and weak science-industry collaboration (Smit, Junginger, and Smits 2007;Wieczorek et al 2013). Since 2009, the government has directed efforts towards promoting innovations, developing manufacturing capacities, and involving domestic companies in the offshore wind supply-chain .…”

The role of policy in shielding, nurturing and enabling offshore wind in The Netherlands (1973–2013)

“…Offshore wind has to compete with efficient, matured and cheaper incumbents solutions [7], and is not simply a diversification of onshore wind to a new segment [8]. It is relatively expensive compared even to other renewable energy sources, in part because of technological challenges like harsh and extreme installation and operation conditions and connection to electricity grids [9].…”

“…The Netherlands appear to be in an ideal position to take advantage of this particular growth market, having a widely-known history of harnessing the power of wind; an international reputation for civil engineering in aquatic environments; substantial wind resources in a favourable part of the North Sea; an excellent infrastructure of sea ports experienced in facilitating offshore industries and providing access to Dutch exclusive economic zone; and ambitious climate change and sustainable energy goals (interviewees 3,4,7,9). The Netherlands also undertake pioneering research into offshore wind, and have several large firms that are highly active in the offshore sector internationally and have amassed experience especially in the development and construction segments of the offshore wind energy value chain (interviewees 1,2,6).…”