GROW Offshore Wind: We need to speed up the carbon-neutral future

“The ambition is clear, we need to go to the sustainable energy, carbon-neutral future, but there are many roads to that at the moment. Well, all the signs tell us that we need to speed up,” David de Jager, director of the GROW Offshore Wind cooperation told OEEC 2021 host Eva Brouwer in an interview.

According to De Jager, offshore wind will be a very important part of the sustainable future, especially in northwestern Europe, but also in Asia and America. However, although it is a great sector, we definitely need all other types of technologies that are carbon-neutral.

“We are in an area where offshore wind does not need any subsidies anymore, it is subsidy-free, so let the market do all the work, and the market is doing its work, but we need to innovate in various routes,” De Jager said.

“For instance, wind turbines will be bigger and bigger and at the moment we do not have technologies that will install these turbines in an environmentally safe and sound way.”

When asked what will the role of fossil energy be in the future, De Jager stated that he believes that we will need it, as well, together with CO2 capture and storage.

However, the world cannot afford to delay everything that can help to reduce CO2 emissions and it needs to embrace that.