The demand for electricity, particularly clean and renewable energy, has led to a rapid expansion of wind farms, especially offshore. The North Sea has become a hub for offshore wind projects, with countries like the UK, Germany, Belgium, Norway, the Netherlands, and Denmark leading the way.
Denmark, in fact, pioneered the first offshore wind farm in 1991, and since then, the industry has seen exponential growth. The Dutch part of the North Sea alone has a total capacity of 4.7GW of operational offshore wind farms as of the end of 2023.
The growth of wind farming in the Netherlands has been significant, with Sibylle noting that the amount of investments in the sector is unprecedented in Europe and worldwide. As the importance of wind farms continues to grow, there is an urgent need to mitigate their impact and ensure sustainable development in the offshore wind industry.
