The North Sea plays a crucial role in Europe’s path toward climate neutrality by 2050. With the Ostend Declaration, the countries of the North Sea cooperation have set a target of installing a minimum of 120 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and at least 300 GW by 2050.
This will make a significant contribution to Europe’s green transition and energy security, but it will also transform our societies as we know them.
To generate 300 GW of electricity from the North Sea, 20,000 offshore wind turbines — each as tall as the Eiffel Tower — must be installed. The production of these 20,000 wind turbines alone could create 750,000 industrial jobs.
Thus, the green transition is also an opportunity to transform Europe’s industry. It’s a chance to shift jobs from fossil-based industries in decline to new jobs in growing sectors. For every job lost in fossil industries, two new jobs are created in more sustainable industries that are taking over.
At Odense Port, the transformation is already well underway. From the closure of the shipyard and the near-abandonment of Lindø as an industrial ruin, Odense Port has been revived as a global hub for the production of offshore wind components.
New industries have emerged, and the crane operator who once moved parts for shipbuilding now operates cranes for massive wind turbine components, produced and shipped from the port. In terms of employment, Odense Port is now larger than when the shipyard closed more than a decade ago, with more than 3,200 people working at the port today.
This transformation didn’t happen on its own. It requires the courage to invest in new solutions and technologies that keep Denmark and Europe two steps ahead of competitors in China and the USA. Through support for world-leading test facilities for offshore wind turbine development — and most recently, the decision to establish the world’s first robotics center for the automated production of large components at Odense Port — visionary Danish and European politicians have charted a new course for the port’s development. This direction, set since the shipyard’s closure, has paved the way for rapid growth in offshore wind, driven by innovation and forward-thinking.
With the prospect of 300 GW of offshore wind to be installed in the North Sea, we now have the opportunity not only to take the next big step in Europe’s green transition but also to create the jobs of the future. If we are to seize this opportunity, it will require us to be ready to make the necessary decisions in fierce global competition, so that green energy also becomes a part of business and industrial policy and forms the foundation of what we will rely on in the future.
