Large-scale offshore wind projects (OWPs) are an important precondition for achieving the long-term goal of decarbonizing the energy systems in the EU. In its offshore strategy, the European Commission estimates 300 GW until 2050. This requires significant investments and the development of cross-border offshore projects. 

Guidehouse, together with Sweco, developed a study that provides an overview of the current state of play of the financing and cost recovery for the key components of complex OWPs. Such projects include generation and infrastructure assets, and are called "hybrid projects." Based on this, the team developed recommendations for an integrated framework for the financing of future hybrid cross-border offshore projects, including:

• General cooperation setup between countries
• Support scheme and tender design
• Principles for a coordinated approach for cross-border redistribution of costs and benefits
• Recommendations on the use of the Connecting Europe Facility and the renewables financing mechanism
• Considerations on the timeline and integrated sequencing for the planning, tendering, and construction of hybrid offshore projects