France has lowest LCoE of five emerging offshore wind markets in south Europe

Commercial offshore wind is coming to southern Europe

The offshore wind markets in South Europe are picking up speed: Italy’s first offshore wind farm was commissioned in April, and France’s first offshore wind farm is expected to come into operation later this year. The war in Ukraine may provide critical tailwind, as countries like Italy and Greece seek to rely less on Russian gas while simultaneously quitting coal.

Frameworks for promoting and supporting offshore wind are either in place or being developed in all current key markets: Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Greece.

Aegir Insights’ market reports give overview of key offshore wind markets in South Europe

But how do these emerging offshore wind markets compare to each other in terms of project economics?

Aegir Insights’ market reports for these five key markets provide insight into all central factors for offshore wind. To estimate potential cost levels and investment opportunities, we’ve calculated LCoE levels for several reference cases representing potential future offshore wind projects in each market.

Benchmarking the LCoE levels in the five markets shows us that:

• France stands out as the cheapest market, mostly due to good wind resources, supply chain and the TSO financing offshore and onshore transmission infrastructure.
• Spain is also a low-LCoE market due to good wind resources and supply chain. Removing the part of LCoE that is due to transmission infrastructure puts Spain on par with France as one of the cheapest floating wind markets.
• Portugal also has good, but slightly lower wind speeds than Spain and France, driving LCoE higher and resulting in a middle position.
• Greece is the second most expensive market due to relatively small projects in terms of capacity and lower wind speeds than Spain and France.
• Italy has the highest LCoE levels, driven primarily by relatively low wind speeds.

Are you curious to see more detailed overviews of LCoE levels in southern European markets?

Reach out to us to learn more about Aegir Insights’ market reports on key offshore wind markets in South Europe.