Sailing Towards a Sustainable Future: A Study on the European Offshore Wind Transport & Installation Industry From a Firm Perspective

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the European offshore wind transport and installation (T&I) industry, focusing on key trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping its development. Utilizing Porter's Diamond model as the analytical framework, the study investigates the industry's development from 2018 to 2022 and naturally progresses into assessing the industry leader Cadeler's performance relative to its peers in 2021 and 2022. These integrated analyses inform the industry projections for the European offshore wind T&I industry from 2022 to 2030, providing insight into the industry trajectory and subsequently establishing the foundation for identifying strategic actions that T&I firms can adopt to meet the ambitious European capacity targets set for 2030. The findings reveal rapid growth in the industry, driven by ambitious political targets and extensive project pipelines, while also highlighting the pressing challenge of potential vessel shortages due to the global fleet of installation vessels becoming obsolete and limited new builds. Further challenges encountered by the industry encompass an uneven distribution of risk across the supply chain, a scarcity of skilled labor, and an inflexible and time-consuming tender process. To address these challenges, six strategic actions are identified and evaluated based on their impact on strategic risk, strategic scope, and the firms' ability to support the industry in reaching the European 2030 capacity targets. Of these, fleet expansion, strategic partnerships with developers, and expanding delivery scope are identified as the most critical. This study contributes to the existing literature on the offshore wind sector by providing insights into the T&I industry's current challenges and opportunities, informed by recent developments and case studies. The findings offer valuable insights and practical strategies for T&I firms to ensure continued growth and success in this vital sector, ultimately contributing to the global transition towards a more sustainable and renewable energy future.