European leaders meet for North Sea green energy talks

Nine Western European leaders on Monday are to discuss ways of optimally utilizing the North Sea as a site for generating  clean energy from wind farms as the region seeks to meet climate targets and reduce its dependency on Russia for energy.

In a joint op-ed contribution in Politico, the leader said more wind turbines and grid infrastructure were needed "to reach our climate goals, and rid ourselves of Russian gas, ensuring a more secure and independent Europe."

The leaders, from Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Ireland, Norway and Denmark, are meeting in the Belgian port city of Ostend for the talks, which are the second round to address the issue. 

Britain is on board as well, but Prime Minister Rishi Sunak did not attend the summit. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen was present too, and the leaders are to meet with industry representatives. 

What are the leaders' aims?

The European Union has made a commitment to reach 42.5% of total energy consumption from renewables by 2030, facilitating this goal in part by making it easier to get permits to install the infrastructure.

"Europe must switch to green forms of energy faster. We are sending a strong signal about that at this summit," Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a statement.

"A green transition in the North Sea is an important step on the way toward independence from Russian gas and toward fulfilling our goal of a climate-neutral Europe," he added.

"This declaration is also a great chance to really get security into the design of all new wind farms and infrastructure," Rob Jetten, the Dutch climate and energy minister, said at the meeting.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said ahead of the summit that the goal was for enough North Sea wind farms to be built to produce 130 gigawatts (GW) of electricity by the end of this decade.

That capacity should more than double to nearly 300 GW by 2050, he said.

Reaching that goal will, however, be expensive, with the EU calculating the cost of ramping up wind energy production to that extent at €800 billion ($900 billion).

Security on the agenda

The leaders will also be talking about ways to improve the security of the underwater electricity grid amid growing fears of hybrid attacks. Concerns about such attacks have risen since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In a sign that these fears are well-founded, four Nordic public broadcasters last week said in a joint investigation that Russia is suspected of spying in the waters of the Baltic Sea and North Sea using civilian fishing trawlers, cargo ships and yachts.

In his comments before the meeting, De Croo said energy was now, "more than ever, a geopolitical topic" in view of energy developments amid the conflict in Ukraine.

The leaders said in their Politico op-ed that they would step up "efforts to react effectively to growing traditional and hybrid threats."

Joint British-Dutch project

One announcement expected to be made at the meeting is of plans by the Netherlands and Britain to construct an electricity link to connect an offshore wind farm in the North Sea with the two countries.

The undersea cable is to deliver up to 2 gigawatts (GW) of electricity, enough power supply for 2 million households, Dutch Energy Minister Rob Jetten said.

Britain has the biggest number of offshore wind farms, 45, which currently produce 14 GW.  The country plans to expand capacity to 50 GW by 2030.

Despite Britain's leading Europe in this regard, the meeting on Monday will be attended not by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, but by Energy Minister Grant Schapp.

Germany has 30 wind farms producing 8 GW, followed by the Netherlands with 2.8 GW.

Germany and Denmark are two global leaders in wind-turbine manufacturing.

tj/jcg (AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa)