ESBERG, DENMARK – The agreements signed by the countries’ political and industry representatives are said to be a new milestone in Europe’s green energy journey.
Yesterday the so-called „Northesa Summit“, a meeting between the leaders of the countries of the North Sea region aimed at strengthening the energy-political collaboration between the countries of the region took place. The government and representatives of Germany, Denmark, Belgium, and the Netherlands met with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the EU Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson, and company representatives from the countries’ energy industries.
The Ministers for Energy of the participating countries signed a cooperation deal for offshore wind energy and green hydrogen. According to the agreement, the countries will be focusing on the development of hybrid offshore cooperation projects that will connect the wind farms and electricity networks of the participating countries into one network to create “the green powerplant of Europe” that would supply the EU with green energy.
“This agreement is an important milestone for international collaboration. It is the basis for the first real green European power plants. In collaboration with our partner countries, we will be able to grow offshore wind energy projects in the North Sea region faster and more efficiently and together discover and build the potential of green hydrogen. This will allow Europe to evolve its renewable energy resources and become less dependent on gas imports,” said German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck.
According to the agreement, the four countries have set themselves the goal to develop offshore wind energy of at least 65 GW by2030 and 150 GW by 2050, which would amount to a tenfold increase of the current capacity. At the same time, the cooperation is supposed to increase the production of green hydrogen from offshore wind energy as well as the development of the necessary infrastructure.
Source: German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action