- The North Sea Summit has today agreed ambitious targets for
boosting offshore wind capacity within the next decade, with the
UK at the heart of meeting it
- Energy Security Secretary and his counterparts from
France, Ireland, Luxembourg and Norway have collectively agreed
a combined target of 120GW offshore wind capacity by 2030, and
300GW by 2050, in the North Sea – making it the “Green Power
Plant” of Europe
- The UK will be at the heart of delivering this, signing up to
supply 50GW of offshore wind – including 5GW of floating offshore
– by 2030, underlining the world-leading role in renewables this
country has on the world stage. The United Kingdom also aims to
establish at least 18 GW capacity through interconnectors by
2030.
- Together, the North Sea neighbouring countries have agreed to
aim to more than double their joint capacity of offshore wind to
at least 300 GW by 2030.
- The UK has also reached agreement with Germany, Denmark and
the Netherlands to cooperate on developing future production of
hydrogen powered by offshore wind.
- The aim is for the countries to reach a combined target of
30GW of hydrogen production capacity by 2030, powered by offshore
wind. They will also look to expand that even further by
2050 under this agreement.
- On top of this, Mr Shapps has agreed a new LionLink
interconnector between the UK and the Netherlands to deliver
1.8GW electricity in 2030 – enough to power 1.8million homes,
more than Manchester and Birmingham combined
- But the UK will also continue discussions on a hybrid
interconnector between it and Belgium – Nautilus – as well as
identifying opportunities for hybrid offshore wind and
interconnector projects in the North Sea with both Ireland and
Germany, and will explore even further cooperation opportunities
with Ireland to deliver clean, cheaper, secure energy
- The Energy Security Secretary has today also signed a
separate Memorandum of Understanding between the UK and Denmark,
which will ensure further collaboration on the transition from
fossil fuels to renewable technologies – and offshore wind,
especially
Energy Security Secretary said:
“Today’s deal at the North Sea Summit has the UK centre stage,
using its world-leading expertise in renewable technologies to
boost the supply of cleaner, cheaper, more secure offshore wind
as part of wider efforts across the continent.
“This will create green jobs across the country, and will
ultimately lead to lower bills for consumers as we move away from
more expensive fossil fuels.
“But it also sends a strong message to Putin that his control
over European energy markets is well and truly over – and that
the UK and North Sea countries will be looking to home-grown
sources for years to come, boosting energy security and
independence.”
Notes to editors
