Members of G+, the health and safety organisation for the offshore wind sector, based at the Energy Institute (EI), invested billions in new offshore wind projects last year, with crucial safety metrics – such as the total recordable injury rate (TRIR) and lost time injury frequency (LTIF) – displaying a downward trajectory in 2022, demonstrating sustained progress since reporting began in 2013.

The TRIR, measuring the number of injuries per million hours worked, fell from 3.28 in 2021 to 2.82 in 2022 (down from 5.52 in 2016). Similarly, the LTIF, measuring the frequency of injuries resulting in lost work time, decreased from 1.55 in 2021 to 1.03 in 2022 (down from 1.98 in 2016).

For the tenth year in a row, there were no fatalities recorded across G+ member sites in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific. Of note is that compared with the 2021 data, there was a 69% decrease in the number of emergency response and medical evacuation incidents, from 62 in 2021 to 19 in 2022, which given the increase in hours reported is a significant improvement.

While this progress is welcome, the report also highlights that more must still be done. A total of 225 high potential incidents were report in 2022, which is a 10% increase on 2021 levels. There was also an increase in the number of restricted workday injuries in 2022, with 36 reported cases, and the number of medical treatment injuries increased by 10 cases – all highlighting the need for constant vigilance and continuous improvement.

G+ Chair Jakob Nielsen comments: ‘You can’t improve what you don’t measure, which is why G+ plays such an indispensable role in reporting, monitoring and steering industry to make our sector as safe as it can possibly be. This increasingly vital industry provides hundreds of thousands of clean energy jobs around the world and is growing fast. What’s non-negotiable for us as operators is to grow in a way that protects our people in often hazardous environments with the highest safety standards.’ 

Winds of change in Central Europe  

Meanwhile, after a decade of stagnation, there appears to be a ‘wind of change’ in Central Europe, according to a number of wind industry organisations.  

Missing goals for the development of renewables, state regulation that restricts wind energy development and overly complicated permitting processes have been the main obstacles to wind energy development to date and led to a ‘decade of stagnation’ of the sector in most Central European countries, say the Czech Renewable Energy Chamber, E3G, Energiaklub Hungary, The Slovak Association of the Photovoltaic Industry and RES (SAPI), Windex Energy and WindEurope.

However, recent regulatory changes for wind energy development in Central European countries ‘are promising’, they say.

Such changes include Hungary’s simplification of repowering conditions, while in Slovenia the first steps to boost permitting will come into force next month (July). Recently amended legislation in Czechia aligns the position of wind energy development with other public interests and simplifies permitting processes.

Central European countries can only meet their required share of the European Union’s (EU) new renewables target by deploying more wind energy. Landlocked countries like Czechia, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia rely on onshore wind. ‘Governments, therefore, need to use the upcoming deadline to submit draft National Energy Climate Plans (NECPs) as an opportunity to increase their wind energy targets,’ say the wind organisations. ‘This will allow them to provide clean, secure and cheap energy and ensure their economies stay competitive.

According to recent analysis by the Ember think tank, consumers could expect electricity prices to be reduced by 29% by 2030 if countries in the region deploy more renewable energy.

The group of wind industry organisations reports that renewable energy associations and climate think tanks have asked governments to use the revision of NECPs to raise their wind energy targets, suggesting that:

• Czechia should increase its wind target to between 1,000 MW and 1,600 MW by 2030,
• Hungary from 329 MW to 4,000 MW by 2030,
• Slovakia from 500 MW to 667 MW by 2030, and
• Slovenia from 500 MW to between 600 and 700 MW by 2030.

They forecast that improved permitting can help wind capacity surge three-fold to eight-fold by 2030.

They also report that by December 2022 Czechia, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia had 0.675 GW of total installed wind energy capacity; which could reach 2–5.4 GW by 2030.

Commenting on developments, Giles Dickson, CEO WindEurope, says: ‘Wind is 17% of all the electricity consumed in Europe today. The EU wants it to be 43% by 2030. This requires a huge expansion in capacity. The whole of Europe is going to have to contribute. So it is encouraging to see the growing number of new wind farm projects now under development in Central Europe and the number of governments in the region that are now planning or legislating for CfD [contracts for difference] auctions for new wind farms.’

Stepan Chalupa, Chair of the Czech Renewable Energy Chamber adds: ‘Most Central European countries have fallen asleep in the RES [renewable energy sources] deployment. Czechia, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia have installed a total of only 83 MW of wind turbines over the last 10 years. That’s how many are installed in the rest of the EU every two to three days.’

‘The revision of the NECPs is a crucial opportunity for Central Europe to catch up with the energy transition,’ comments Genady Kondarev, E3G Senior Associate for Central and Eastern Europe.

Renewable energy associations and climate think tanks have asked Central European governments to use the revision of their National Energy Climate Plans (NECPs) to raise their wind energy targets, for example calling on Hungary to raise its current 329 MW wind capacity to 4,000 MW by 2030

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