Over 8000 delegates from 54 countries descended on Copenhagen this year to attend the EWEA OFFSHORE 2015 event at the Bella Center – the world’s largest offshore wind energy conference and exhibition.
In addition to 430+ exhibitors, the event saw keynote speeches from high-level political and industry players on the state of Europe’s offshore wind industry and the continent’s energy mix at large.
EWEA OFFSHORE 2015 played host to the Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and six ministers from four different Member States including the Deputy Prime Minister of Denmark Morten Ostergaard; Denmark’s Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard; Denmark’s Minister for Climate, Energy and Building Rasmus Helveg Petersen; Sweden’s Energy Minister Ibrahim Baylan; Ireland’s Research and Innovation Minister Damien English; and the Latvian Economy Minister Dana Reizniece-Ozola, whose country also holds the EU Council Presidency.
The central theme of the event tackled one of the most pressing issues for the offshore wind business today – cost reduction. Three of the biggest players on the European offshore wind stage – DONG Energy, MHI Vestas Offshore Wind and Siemens Wind Power – launched an initiative at the event called United Industry. The declaration aims to spark joint and collective actions across the whole of the value chain to deliver long-term reductions in the cost of offshore wind.
EWEA OFFSHORE 2015 also had a heavy press presence with over 100 journalists from the mainstream, trade and B2B media attending to speak with delegates and experts on a variety of different topics. Journalists were invited to a number of press conferences held by EWEA members as well as short boat trip to view the Middelgrunden offshore wind farm in Copenhagen – once the world’s largest offshore park.