Global Offshore Wind Alliance adds 9 countries at COP27

The Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA), which was launched in September, has added nine countries, including Germany, the UK and the US, to its ranks during COP27 in Sharm-El-Sheikh in Egypt, the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) announced on Tuesday.

Belgium, Colombia, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands and Norway have also joined the alliance, which was created by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Denmark and GWEC to accelerate offshore wind deployment.

The countries will work to ramp up offshore wind in response to the climate and energy security crises. According to the announcement, they will cooperate to drive national, regional and global goals and eliminate barriers to the installation of offshore wind in new and existing markets.

The alliance will bring together governments, the industry, international organisations and other stakeholders with the aim of reaching global offshore wind capacity of at least 380 GW by 2030. Both IRENA and the International Energy Agency (IEA) expect that the world will need to have more than 2,000 GW of offshore wind in 2050, compared to just over 60 GW now, to keep temperature rises to 1.5 degrees C.

Offshore wind is seen as a fast and viable means of bridging the growing gap between renewable energy targets and implementation levels.

“With the engagement of policy-makers, international organisations and actors from the entire value chain, the Global Offshore Wind Alliance is here to create political momentum and drive action on the ground by sharing best practices to ensure an effective, cost-efficient and just power transition to offshore wind,” commented Tomas Anker Christensen, Climate Ambassador of Denmark.

“Offshore wind is more than competitive with fossil fuel generation, and can also provide a massive boost to investment and job creation,” said IRENA director general Francesco la Camera.

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