“Offshore wind is set to become Europe’s number-one source of electricity.”

That exciting vision formed part of WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson’s exclusive opinion piece for Recharge reacting to the European Commission’s €800bn ($945bn) plan for a massive ramp-up of wind, wave, tidal and even floating solar off the shores of the EU’s member states.

The Commission’s plan would see 300GW of offshore wind and 40GW of ocean energy deployed by 2050, in what Dickson called “an extraordinary 25-fold growth”.

But Dickson's welcome came with caveats, especially around the huge investment in ports, grid connections and other infrastructure that will be needed to deliver the EU’s vision.

Warnings about the scale of the challenge ahead were reflected elsewhere in Recharge’s unrivalled, comprehensive coverage of the offshore strategy, with the head of Germany’s wind operators’ federation labelling it a “mammoth task”.

Germany’s role will be crucial, not just because it is the EU’s offshore wind leader since the UK left the bloc, but also because of its own massive ambitions for hydrogen.

Recharge reported how one leading German energy commentator warned that “every spot in the North Sea” and “every terawatt of offshore wind” will be needed if turbines are to power production of the green hydrogen required for Europe’s energy transition.

And amid the excitement around offshore wind, Recharge also reported how the ocean energy industry sees the EU’s targets as a hugely significant boost for its own prospects.

The sector was confident about its ability to deliver while warning the bloc that it will have to relax its strict state-aid rules if it wants marine renewables’ fledgling projects to have a chance of achieving the desired scale.

Europe is far from the only part of the world with a buzz around offshore wind, as the latest Recharge Digital Roundtable proved this week as leading industry commentators unpacked the huge potential for floating turbines in Asia.

The roundtable, moderated by Recharge Editor-in-Chief Darius Snieckus, heard exclusive insights from DNV GL director of floating wind energy, Kimon Agyriadis, among them that Asia-Pacific could account for almost half the 255GW global floating fleet it expects to be deployed by 2050.

The Recharge event featured other front-rank industry figures from the likes of turbine-maker Ming Yang, developers Swancor Renewable Energy and Simply Blue, floating technology pioneer Ideol and specialist consultancy OWC.

One of the contributions of the roundtable came from Simon Currie, principal at advisory group the Energy Estate, who wondered who will be the “Orsted of APAC floating wind”– before coming up with a list of candidates that are far from the ‘usual suspects’.

View the full panel discussion at the Recharge Asia Floating Wind digital roundtable here

Much as 2020 has been a time of eruptive change, there are still some constants in life.

One of these is Recharge’s coverage of the biggest wind sector conference and exhibition in the world, WindEnergy Hamburg, running this year 1-4 December .

We again have the privilege of being Exclusive Official Media Partner of WindEnergy Hamburg and WindTV, the live platform being set by WindEuropefor the conference side of the event, and have reshaped our delivery to give delegates the news and intelligence they need to make the most of WindEnergy Hamburg 2020.

This will include:

· a dedicated front-page carousel on our website carrying real-time reporting and analysis from the virtual conference floor and around the exhibitors stands

· a daily e-newsletter and five-minute video digest from Recharge Editor-in-chief Darius Snieckus curating the news you need to know – and why it matters to the wind market

· and a special WindEnergy Hamburg edition of this Agenda e-newsletter as the event draws to a close to capture the highlights of the week.

Plus, Recharge will be streaming on socials through WindEnergy Hamburg with who-said-what-when, as well as posting all the high-caliber editorial you’ve come to expect from the global wind industry’s leading title.

‘See’ you in Hamburg!