Offshore wind supply chain has to play catch-up

The wind industry has thrown several challenges towards all the links in the global project supply chains. According to Sergio Altolaguirre, Commercial Director Offshore Foundations at Haizea Wind, the supply chain is already behind and playing a game of catch-up. 

To keep up with the ambitions of the European state governments as well as the EU itself, to promote a net-zero industry by 2030, heavy investment was required, however, now close to the closing of 2024, these investments are already late, Altolaguirre said during his presentation at the Project Cargo Summit held in Bilbao.

Europe is grappling with the supply chain issues. Citing WoodMac figures, Altolaguirre says that more than €15 billion of investments in the supply chain are yet to be announced. The demand in the offshore wind sector is expected to grow anywhere between three to five times the current volume. In an already saturated market, this is a big issue.

In terms of foundations, this is some 1,600 per year over the next five years. Europe and the United States will require around 1,300 monopiles per year on average from 2025 to 2030. “If we are being generous, Europe’s capacity sits around 920. This means that Europe needs more than 300 monopiles to cover its demand,” Altolaguirre said.

The issues are further exacerbated by the fact that major OEMs in the sector are bleeding money and without them, there is no offshore wind industry. European OEMs are also facing strong competition from Asian suppliers, mainly from China. Europe currently has very few import tariffs or anti-dumping measures, and clear calls have been made for the authorities to expedite the process to protect the supply chain.

Believers step forward

While the demand is set to rise and the supply chain is set to face new challenges, Erhardt Projects CEO, Igor Muñiz Tinoco called for cooperation among all the stakeholders. Among 150 professionals gathered at the Project Cargo Summit, TInoco called for the believers to step up.

“We are ready to take on any challenge. It will take cooperation, communication, and trust, but we are ready,” he said.

Similar calls for cooperation were heard across different panel discussions throughout Project Cargo Summit 2024 which opened with a site visit to the Haizea Wind facility at the port of Bilbao. The discussions kicked off the next day at the Euskalduna Conference Center with a healthy amount of networking opportunities sprinkled in between.

The Port of Bilbao, ProMedia and Project Cargo Journal have extended their cooperation and the next edition will again take place in the city of Bilbao in September 2025. If you have attended this year’s edition and have some thoughts to share, fill out our survey here, and if you want to book your spot for the 2025 edition, you can pre-register here.