Offshore wind: Relationships

Every element and industry that Offshore wind is linked to, and how. Each pair has its own card explaining the relationships between the two.

• Steel: Offshore wind is built largely of heavy steel plate: monopile foundations alone take around 200 t per MW, and foundations and towers were put at about a quarter of capital cost in 2021. That makes the industry a major plate customer and exposed to steel and supply chain inflation, as the 2023 cancellations showed. (researched)
• Underground, submarine and superconducting cables: Every megawatt-hour from an offshore wind farm reaches land through subsea export cables, so a few cable makers with factories booked into the late 2020s, and the risk of a single cable fault, set how fast and how reliably offshore wind can grow. (researched)
• Copper: Offshore wind needs copper; their prices have moved together.
• HVDC links: Energy flows from offshore wind to HVDC links; their prices have moved together.
• Electrolysers: Energy flows from offshore wind to electrolysers.
• Natural gas: Their prices have moved together.
• Rare earths: Offshore wind needs rare earths.
• Ship propulsion: Their prices have moved together.
• Transformers and power electronics: Energy flows from offshore wind to transformers and power electronics.
• Wind: Energy flows from wind to offshore wind.