Signatories to the Hamburg Declaration – which include Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Norway – will together produce 100 GW of offshore wind power through joint clean‑energy projects.
These will include new ‘offshore wind hybrid assets’ – wind farms at sea that are directly connected to more than one country through interconnectors – which will help transform the North Sea into the world’s largest “clean energy reservoir”, European leaders declared at the summit in Germany.
The deal comes after the UK earlier this month delivered a record-breaking auction to secure 8.4 GW of offshore wind – the biggest ever auction in European history – which the government said will unlock 7,000 jobs and drive £22bn of private sector investment into factories and ports.
“We are standing up for our national interest by driving for clean energy, which can get the UK off the fossil fuel rollercoaster and give us energy sovereignty and abundance,” said energy secretary Ed Miliband.
“After our record renewables auction, we today went further by signing a clean energy security pact with European allies to ensure we maximise the clean energy potential for the North Sea.”
The agreement will help deliver one-third of the 300 GW of offshore wind in the North Sea by 2050 pledged by European countries three years ago in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a spike in energy prices.
Miliband also signed a statement of intent with ministers from Germany, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands for an interconnected offshore grid, focusing on joint planning, cost-sharing and market arrangements to speed up delivery.
However, the UK faces significant challenges improving its grid infrastructure as more renewables come online, with a record 12.3TWh of renewable energy curtailed in Great Britain and Ireland last year due to limitations and bottlenecks on the transmission network.
This would have been enough wind energy to power every London home for the whole year, with 98% of the wasted energy due to turning down wind turbines in Scotland.
On the prospect of more renewables connecting to the grid, Fintan Devenney, senior energy analyst at Montel EnAppSys, said: “Ensuring the efficient siting and production of power to meet demand will become increasingly important.
“This is brought into sharper focus by the expected increase in electricity demand from new data centres wishing to connect to the grid as soon as possible, as well as the continued electrification of heating, transport and other sectors."
“A holistic view of policy which will enable the optimal siting of generation, sufficient investment in grid infrastructure, and the correct investment signals to help alleviate grid constraints, is now crucial, and the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan will be key to achieving these aims.”
Image credit: Shutterstock
Chris Seekings is the Deputy Editor of ISEP’s Transform magazine, which is published biomonthly for ISEP members. Chris’s role involves writing sustainability-related news, features and interviews, as well as helping to plan and manage the magazine’s other day-to-day activities.
