A Systemic Assessment of the European Offshore Wind Innovation

The development and diffusion of offshore wind energy technology is important for European energy policy. Firstly, there is a large amount of potential; the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) expects 150 GW of offshore wind capacity to be realized in 2030, which would supply 14% of Europe’s electricity demand (EWEA, 2011a). The technical potential of offshore wind is estimated at 5800 GW (EEA, 2009) and allows for even further expansion after 2030.