This is an extract from a recent report “Collaboration will strengthen North Sea power” published by EMBER.
As the largest offshore wind sea in the world, the North Sea has the potential to support industrial manufacturing and energy security across the bordering nations, provided collaboration is ensured. With 101 operational wind farms making up 30 GW, the North Sea has a greater capacity than the South or East China seas, and has a significant pipeline of projects in construction or in early development. Six countries have operational offshore wind capacity in the North Sea contributing to this total – the UK, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Norway – in order of total capacity. This collective effort helps to maximise the economic output of the North Sea, as its significant stretches of shallow seabed are well suited to fixed-foundation offshore turbines.
New installations continue to break records
North Sea wind power continues to grow, adding around 1.6 GW in 2025 from three sites, Moray West and Neart Na Goithe in the UK, and Goode in the German North Sea. This is more than double the capacity installed in 2024, but around average rate over the past 10 years. A stable deployment rate is a critical part of ensuring a healthy development sector, ensuring that employment and learnings can be retained and supported. With 7 GW under construction in the North Sea, the world-leading capacity is soon set to increase. This pipeline of new projects includes record breaking sites, Dogger Bank (phases A, B and C) will be the largest in the world when completed at 3.6 GW. The scale of individual sites is also increasing – the average size of the wind farms under construction is over 1.2 GW. Though the South China Sea hosts the largest offshore wind farm, the Yangjiang Shaba site at 1.7 GW (phases 1-5) – the North Sea hosts four of the five largest offshore wind farms in the world, including Hollandse Kust Zuid (1.5 GW), Hornsea 1 (1.2 GW) and 2 (1.3 GW) and Seagreen (1 GW).
The UK has recently supported 7.5 GW of new offshore wind in the North Seas
The newest North Sea offshore wind projects have been confirmed recently in the latest UK government support round. On the 14th of January 2025, 8.4 GW of new offshore wind projects were awarded a Contracts-for-Difference subsidy, of which 7.5 GW are due to be based in the North Sea, comprising 5 individual wind farms. This takes the total installed, under construction or contracted offshore wind capacity of the UK in the North Sea to 32 GW.
Collaboration in the North Sea can maximise security benefits for Europe
Collaboration is essential for the joint health of the offshore wind sector in the North Sea. Despite achieving world-leading scale, there have been serious price and supply chain challenges recently. Specifically, inflationary price increases, stop-start deployment with changing turbine sizes and pressure to cut costs have presented challenges for the European offshore wind supply-chain. Some of these challenges go beyond Europe, but support for local supply chains through regular, standardised component orders, turbine sizes and wind farm connections is a direct opportunity for the countries bordering the North Sea. Standardisation of policy has worked for the North Sea in the past.
The successful two-way auction approach to supporting new offshore wind was first introduced in the UK, and has been taken up internationally. Around the continent, it is now also used in Denmark, Ireland, Poland and France, with Belgium also committed to the policy. The North Sea is not only a deployment hub for offshore wind, but the coastal countries also host significant manufacturing and O&M capacity. This supply chain is challenged, however, by different approaches between nations and individual projects. Standardisation of component sizes and orders across the European supply chain has been raised by a range of developers as a way of increasing the use of project experience, supporting component factories with consistent orders, all helping to reduce costs over time.
Long-distance cables ensure benefits of clean power are shared across the North Sea
The North Sea is an important location for cross-border electricity infrastructure, whose flows help with balancing clean power grids across the basin. The North Sea hosts 7 GW of offshore interconnectors across 7 separate projects, with multiple new projects under development, including 1.4 GW under construction, the NeuConnect project between the UK and Germany. Connections over long distances reduce the impact of local weather and demand peaks.
Hybrid offshore assets – combining generation and transmission infrastructure – enable the cost-efficient distribution of wind power between countries, while also creating a more meshed and therefore secure offshore grid. Only one such hybrid project is operational in Europe – Kriegers Flak in the Baltic Sea. While several are planned for the North Sea, none are expected to be operational before 2032. Joint planning and funding is the most impactful lever to encourage hybrid assets, something the North Sea Summit is perfectly placed to improve. The regulatory framework remains fragmented, cost-sharing approaches are unclear, and energy planning remains too focused at the national rather than regional level. The EU has taken steps to address these barriers, issuing guidance for joint offshore investments, and producing an Offshore Network Development Plan, but EU-UK planning should be further integrated.
Electrification unlocks further benefits from abundant offshore wind
Despite the progress made in offshore wind, Europe still relies heavily on imported fossil fuels as the electrification of non-power sectors remains sluggish. Currently, only a fifth of EU energy demand is electrified, but there is broad scope in transport, heating and industrial processes to cut both fossil use and import dependency. The area is home to an important segment of European energy demand, half of all industrial energy consumption in Europe is located in countries bordering the North Sea. By combining new power generation with the electrification of energy use, the North Sea can become a powerhouse of a more modern, secure economy, despite the long term decline in oil & gas production.
Without electrification, the energy security benefits of abundant North Sea power are limited to the power sector. The EU grid is already over 70% clean, whereas just 1% of light transport is electrified. Combining ‘electrotech’ and renewable power provides benefits in two directions. Offshore wind provides the low-cost, low-carbon power supply for heating and transport, while electrification provides the increased and flexible demand for variable wind power. Developing both of these technologies is therefore essential for a well-integrated, modern power system, across the North Sea.
Offshore wind is helping stabilise electricity prices at competitive level
High and uncertain energy prices threaten to undermine Europe’s top political priorities, from industrial competitiveness to the cost of living. Only by investing in its own energy resources can Europe stabilise, control, and permanently lower its energy prices. Offshore wind contributes to this goal in two main ways. Firstly, prices can be fixed for long periods (typically 15-20 years) using Contracts for Difference (CfD – the preferred support mechanism in Europe). Secondly, as generation from low-cost renewables increases, the least efficient and most expensive gas power plants are pushed out of the merit order, lowering market clearing prices.
A total of 49 fixed-bottom offshore wind farms have been awarded CfD contracts in Europe, 19 of which were operational at the end of 2025. The prices awarded in these auctions have followed a similar trend to technology costs, which fell by around 70% between 2015 and 2020. Accordingly, auction prices fell from €150-250 in the early 2010s (in 2024 prices), to a minimum of around €60 per MWh by 2020. High inflation and supply chain disruptions during the energy crisis raised costs, resulting in auction prices increasing and stabilising at €80-95 per MWh in recent years. However, Ørsted have estimated that with better coordination between governments and the industry, costs could fall again, by 30% from current levels by 2040.
Despite recent increases, the fixed prices being delivered by offshore wind are competitive with present day electricity prices. For example, eight offshore wind farms have come online under CfDs since 2023 with an average strike price of €75 per MWh. The average price of those scheduled to commission between 2026 and 2032 is only slightly higher at €90 per MWh (or €93 excluding French prices, which are lower as they exclude grid connection costs). By comparison, the average day-ahead power price in Europe in 2025 was €85 per MWh, with three of the largest North Sea economies above this level (Germany, UK, Netherlands). While electricity prices are expected to decline moderately along with gas prices in the coming years, this remains highly uncertain. Nevertheless, offshore wind is securing competitively priced electricity today, while delivering the additional benefits of stability and energy independence.
The North Sea is an essential strategic asset for Europe
The North Sea’s transition from a historic oil and gas basin to a global renewable powerhouse represents one of Europe’s most vital strategic opportunities. While the region already leads the world in offshore wind capacity, the true measure of its future success will depend on deepening cooperation. By synchronizing national policies, standardizing supply chains, and accelerating the deployment of hybrid interconnectors, North Sea nations can move beyond a fragmented national focus toward a more unified, secure, and competitive offshore energy system. This approach will not only safeguard energy security and drive down costs for millions of households, but also solidify the North Sea’s role as the “green power plant” of Europe for decades to come.
Access the report here