In 1989, the first Husum Wind event took place in a cattle hall on Germanys stormy North Sea coast. At the time, wind energy was a fringe technology championed by a handful of pioneers. Today, its a cornerstone of Europes energy strategy, underpinning decarbonization, powering green hydrogen ambitions, and bolstering energy security.
But with growth comes complexity. The challenges facing the industry today are no longer about proving viability; theyre about managing a distributed, digital, and demand-driven system at scale. As Europes leading industry event, Husum Wind offers a clear window into how the sector is turning maturity into momentum.
Across Northern Germany, older, smaller turbines are being replaced by modern machines that can generate five times the energy with greater efficiency. This isnt an isolated trend; repowering has become a defining theme of the market.
However, the process is far from simple, involving legacy permits, community negotiations, and complex logistics. The industrys value chain has expanded to include blade recyclers, planning consultants, and hybrid project developers, all of whom are now essential to the repowering ecosystem.
With permitting processes finally improving in many regions, a new challenge has emerged: grid access. In wind-rich areas like northern Germany and the Netherlands, transmission lines are nearing capacity, leading to increased curtailment. Project timelines are now often dictated by transformer procurement and substation build-outs, not turbine availability.
This reality is forcing the sector to adapt. Hybrid projects with co-located storage, dynamic grid modeling, and flexible inverters are becoming standard. As a result, grid operators and software firms have moved from the periphery to become central players in the industry.
As Europes turbine fleet matures, digitalization is no longer an optional extra. Predictive maintenance, AI-based diagnostics, and condition monitoring are now critical for optimizing performance and uptime. For asset owners managing diverse fleets from different OEMs, interoperable platforms are essential for extracting value. The new Digital+ Area at Husum Wind 2025, featuring over 40 companies, will showcase these tools not as future trends, but as solutions already deployed in the field.
Green hydrogen is finally entering the implementation phase, with over 60 electrolysis projects in development across northern Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands. However, challenges in grid integration and regulation remain.
At the same time, the entire industry faces a critical constraint: workforce availability. After losing over 40,000 jobs in Germany between 2017 and 2019 due to policy uncertainty, the skills pipeline is now lagging behind resurgent growth. Technicians, engineers, and digital specialists are in high demand but short supply, making this a direct threat to project timelines and the energy transition itself.
Wind energy challenges are regional, not just national. This reality is driving a new era of operational collaboration, underscored by Denmark's role as the official partner country of Husum Wind 2025. The German-Danish partnership extends beyond panels and forums to tangible systems integration, including joint offshore grid planning and shared hydrogen pipeline developments. This is how Europe will build a resilient, interconnected renewable energy backbone.
The industry's focus in 2025 is on operational detail, technical coordination, and system-level integration. Its a sector that is no longer just expanding; it is learning to integrate.