Liepāja SEZ Authority becomes a member of WindEurope

From March 20 - 22, the Liepaja SEZ CEO Uldis Hmieļevskis is participating in WindEurope’s annual on- and offshore wind energy event in Bilbao, Spain, for a three-day conference and exhibition, participating at the WindEurope working group for ports in particular to be involved in the strategic discussions with regard to the overall wind industry policies and positions.

Liepaja has announced itself as the leading offshore wind support base in the Baltic Sea region, which is confirmed by the territory reservation agreement concluded with Van Oord in the Port of Liepaja on the area of 55 ha.

On March 18, the Liepaja SEZ Board decided to apply for membership at the wind industry association WindEurope which advocates wind energy policies for Europe on behalf of more than 450 member companies and organizes leading wind industry events. So, currently, the Liepaja SEZ Authority is a full-fledged member of the WindEurope association to further on collaborate with the major wind industry professionals.

The annual WindEurope event has gathered 12,000+ attendees to review the shape of European wind energy today. There’ll be dozens of conference sessions, hundreds of speakers, and 500+ exhibitors from the whole value chain looking to showcase their innovations and seal new deals. There are numerous social events across the event for the participants to reach out to new colleagues and educational sessions showing them all the
ins and outs of wind energy.

Under the tagline “Our wind, our value – Creating value for Europe, living up to Europe’s values” the event explores the value of wind energy for jobs, nature protection, energy security, economic competitiveness, local communities and much more. During the three-day conference, issues related to the preservation of biological diversity are also considered, and the need to quickly build power grids and port infrastructure, which is vital during the construction of offshore wind farms and further on, when servicing and maintaining them, is also widely discussed at the event.

On March 21, at the LIAA (Latvian Investment and Development Agency) stand “Mission Latvia” the Liepaja SEZ CEO Uldis Hmieļevskis, shared the experience of what development direction Liepaja has chosen i.e. clearly defining the city’s advantages to become the leading offshore wind support base in the Baltic Sea. "First of all, the city’s geographical location is very advantageous, as all the planned Baltic Sea wind farms will be located within a 400 km
radius from the city. Secondly, there is a vast site for development in the Outer Harbor of the Port of Liepaja, which, in line with the development plans of the city and the Liepaja SEZ Authority, is suitable for the establishment of a support base for offshore wind farms. Thirdly, there are both the educational capacity to train specialists and the industrial capacity to build manufacturing facilities for the production of various components.” The news about the joint plans of the Liepaja SEZ Authority and Van Oord - the leading international contractor specializing in dredging, marine engineering, and offshore projects -
has generated a lot of interest, especially among potential investors, so we need to give answers to many questions with regard to the ambitious project and organize the next meetings and visits already in Liepaja", admitted the Liepaja SEZ CEO.

According to the latest data available, the share of wind in total EU electricity consumption in 2023 was 19%, which means the bloc will need to nearly double its capacity in less than six years to achieve the new 2030 target – 35%.

Recent WindEurope survey: https://windeurope.org/newsroom/press-releases/uptake-in-permitting-and-investments-brings-2030-wind-target-within-reach/