Yangjiang Declaration at Global Offshore Wind Conference

We, representatives from   governments, enterprises, academia and  NGOs from more  than  10  countries and  regions around the  world, unanimously approve to adopt the  “Yangjiang Declaration at  Global  Offshore Wind  Conference” at  the  GOWS 2019  held  in  Yangjiang, Guangdong Province from May  31 to  June 2, 2019. GOWS 2019, under  the  theme of  “International Cooperation, Industrial Collaboration, Innovation Driven-Accelerating High-Quality Offshore Wind  Development”, is aimed  at  promoting global offshore wind  development, and improving the  international cooperation and exchange  mechanism.

We are convinced that  by 2030, the  cumulative installed capacity of global offshore wind will reach  300 GW, a reasonable conclusion made taking into account  such factors as current development status, industrial planning of countries and the  evolutionary trend of technologies. We believe that  offshore wind  represents an important force  in achieving global energy  transition. It has become the consensus  of countries to  accelerate energy  transition and  take  the  road  of green  and  sustainable development. European practices demonstrate, offshore wind plays  an important role. In the  meantime, offshore wind  has seen significantly reduced costs in  recent  years, and some  projects no longer need  subsidies, thus  becoming a green  energy  with competitive price.

We believe that  vigorous development of offshore wind  will produce good  social and economic benefits. The offshore wind featured by long industry chain can not  only  stimulate direct investment, promote local industrial structuring and upgrading, but  also create a large  number of jobs, thus  representing a strategic opportunity that countries should firmly grasp. In addition, as it involves a number of state-of-the-art technologies, the  advancement of offshore wind will also accelerate the  breakthrough of related technologies.

It is our belief that  offshore wind still has huge potential for  development. The world has a long coastline and a vast sea area, providing broad space for  offshore wind  development. Currently, both traditional markets such as UK, Germany, and Denmark, and many  emerging markets, have  developed ambitious medium- and  long-term plans, indicating that  the  installed capacity of global offshore wind will maintain rapid growth in  the  future. With the  advancement  of  technology, deeper   and  open  sea will be  fully developed, thus  further expanding the development space of offshore wind.

In order to achieve  the  above  goals and accelerate global offshore wind  development, the  following six initiatives have  been proposed:

1. Strengthening  global cooperation. Strong   support  and  close   cooperation  of  governments will  contribute to   the   rapid   and  stable development of  global offshore wind. The international community should jointly  create  an  open  and  cooperative global offshore wind collaborative  development  space,  establish  an   efficient  and   transparent  industrial  governance system, and   realize  the   sharing of infrastructure, data   and   information.  Adhering to   the   principle  of  achieving  shared   growth  through  discussion and  collaboration, governments, enterprises, NGOs, academia, international organizations and  other stakeholders are  encouraged to  play  a greater role in accordance with their respective roles  and responsibilities.

2. Fostering technological  innovation.  Technological innovation  is  the   core   driving force   for   offshore wind  development. A  smooth communication channel should be established on a global scale to  share the  latest research results of countries. Efforts should be made  to promote  collaborative innovation, increase investment  in  the  construction of  public test  platforms, accelerate the  development of  key common technologies, encourage enterprises to increase R&D and innovation investment through tax abatement, develop more  efficient and adaptable offshore wind turbines, accelerate technological breakthroughs in wind  measurement, foundation and transmission, and promote offshore wind  development towards deeper  and open  sea.

3. Establishing a fair  and  open  market. A fair  and  open  market environment is  conducive to achieving the  survival of  the  fittest through competition, promoting the free  flow  of advanced technologies and optimal solutions on a global scale, ultimately improving the development level  and efficiency of countries, and bringing prosperity to the  overall market. A transparent and stable  market allows investors to have clear earnings expectations and  increase their investment enthusiasm. Countries should ensure  long-term market stability in  form  of  laws  and regulations, establish a  fair  market access  system, develop an  international coordination mechanism for  technical standards, promote multilateral mutual recognition of  certification results, and  eliminate trade barriers so that  all  parties can fairly enjoy the  development opportunities brought about by offshore wind.

4. Intensifying personnel training and encouraging talent flow. Offshore wind  is a multi-disciplinary, and multi-technical cross-over systematic project that  places  particularly high  requirements for  practitioners’ skills.  Countries should establish a multi-level offshore wind  education and training system  as soon as possible, cultivate professional talents with a global perspective, and improve practitioners’ professionalism; and establish a global talent flow  mechanism, encourage the  free  flow  of talents in offshore wind, and promote the  international exchanges of offshore wind technologies and experiences.

5. Constructing a strict safety  and health protection system.  Guaranteeing practitioners’ safety  and  health Is a prerequisite for  sustainable development of the  offshore wind industry. Countries should start with the  safe and reliable operation of equipment and projects, improve relevant quality assessment  and  certification mechanisms, set strict qualification thresholds for  practitioners and carry  out  on-going safety training, so as to construct a multi-dimensional safety  and health protection system.

6. Boosting the  integrative  development of  offshore wind   and  other marine industries. Tapping   the  potential of  marine  resources and accelerating the  industrial structuring of the  marine economy is an important economic development strategy implemented by countries. In this  process,  offshore wind can play  a good  supporting and radiating role, driving the  development of port construction, marine renewable energy  equipment  manufacturing,  and   marine  aquaculture  industries.  Countries should  strengthen  relevant  research and   practice exploration, achieve multiple-industry coordinated development, and improve the  utilization efficiency of marine resources.

In order  to ensure  the  smooth completion of the  2030 goal, following actions  will be taken:

1. Regularly assess progress  on the  300GW goal and  implementation of the  six initiatives, and  produce an annual report on progress to  be discussed  at GOWS.

2. Organize relevant  national  institutions  to  carry   out   joint  research   on   eco-environmental   impact  assessment, R&D  progress of state-of-the-art  offshore wind  technologies, supporting policy  mechanism for   offshore wind, (medium-  and  long-term) offshore wind development goals, common technologies/management plans  to  reduce  costs, socio-economic value  of  offshore wind  industry chain, and global offshore wind market information and data, and timely release  relevant research results for  dissemination on a global scale.

3. To facilitate international communication and cooperation, a workshop will be held  during GOWS events  as an open  platform for  expert consultation, experience & know-how sharing, and addressing issues & challenges observed in global offshore wind  development.

4. Designate a specialized agency  to  collect and  integrate the  information of the  global offshore wind  industry chain, and  regularly publish relevant information through multiple channels, to achieve  transparency and sharing of information.

5. Present  awards   to outstanding projects and  organizations with  technical breakthroughs, as  well  as persons   who  have  made  a great contribution to boosting offshore wind development during GOWS events  starting from 2020.

6. In view  of the  huge development potential of offshore wind in emerging countries, but  with the  technology and management levels  yet  to be improved, various forms  of  training activities will be  organized to  accelerate the  capacity building of  offshore wind  industry in  these countries.

7. Make the public be more  objectively aware  of offshore wind development, and understand the positive role of developing offshore wind in
addressing climate and  environmental issues, driving local  economic development, and  creating jobs  by means  of public opinion guidance, science  popularization, and public visits.

Yangjiang, Guangdong Province,  China June 1, 2019

Nguồn: Nguyễn Hoàng Dũng