Europe's €1 trillion task to make the North Sea a clean power hub

Nine countries plan massive offshore wind energy expansion in north-western Europe

European leaders met on the Belgian coast on Monday to commit to a wind energy drive. AP

Europe has a dream to make the North Sea a clean energy powerhouse — but it could cost 1 trillion euros ($1.1 trillion).

Nine countries including Britain, Germany and France are pledging a vast expansion of wind power to turn their seas into “Europe’s green power plant”.

Their vision is to cut bills, create jobs, meet climate goals and end their reliance on energy exporters such as Russia.

To do it they will need to “get serious” about paying for skilled engineers, building undersea cables and handing out permits for wind farms more quickly, industry insiders said on Tuesday.

The targets are steep and would involve a tenfold increase in Europe’s offshore firepower by 2050.

Ministers and experts from the nine countries hope joining forces will speed up the process.

The 18 projects pledged by leaders at a summit in Belgium on Monday include new undersea cables between offshore wind farms, Britain and the European mainland.

“With an interconnected system you can better utilise the fact that [the wind] always blows somewhere,” John Olav Tande, an offshore wind scientist from Norwegian research group Sintef, told The National.

“If it doesn’t blow, the sun is shining. And of course there will be some occurrences where you don’t have wind or solar generation and then you can use hydro generation from Norway or you can use hydrogen or other backup resources.”

Europe is planning a tenfold increase in offshore wind capacity by 2050. EPA

The nine countries — Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Norway and Ireland — set a target of 300 gigawatts of offshore wind power capacity by 2050.

Europe as a whole currently has 30GW capacity, according to industry group Wind Europe.

“To meet this 300GW target, we are talking of investments in the range of 1 trillion euros. It’s not an exact number but it’s in that range,” Mr Tande said.

“You have to have an increased capacity of manufacturing. Industry needs to be built up to deliver. Of course you also need competence-building, you need a whole new generation of engineers, and you need innovations.”

But he said: “For me it’s clear that it can be done. In a way, it must be done, if we shall solve the climate crisis and transfer from fossil fuels to renewables.”

The projects planned by North Sea countries include:

· Building 120GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 as a stepping stone to the 300GW mid-century target;

· Working together on the “physical and cyber security” of offshore platforms;

· A pilot project in Germany to produce green hydrogen offshore;

· A system of “energy islands” run by Belgium, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands, hosting wind turbines and power infrastructure;

· New undersea cables between Britain and its mainland neighbours the Netherlands and Belgium, and potentially Germany;

North Sea nations want to work together to protect offshore infrastructure after last year's attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines. AFP

The UK, France, Ireland, Norway and landlocked Luxembourg joined the green alliance after an initial four-nation summit last year.

The pledges in Ostend on Monday will “will give us all the wind we need in our sails to set the course onto climate neutrality,” quipped European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

Wind power installation stalled in 2022 despite the scramble to replace Russian gas following the invasion of Ukraine.

Germany struggled to drum up interest in wind and solar power auctions, while offshore capacity across Europe increased by only 2.5GW, mostly in the UK.

Industry figures blamed supply chain problems, the cost of raw materials and components and pricing that they said did not take the wider social value of clean energy into account.

Opening their annual meeting on Tuesday, Wind Europe representatives said it was “time to get serious”.

They set out five demands including a faster approval process, investment in skills and factories, a market redesign and expanding the electricity grid.

“There is no use producing renewable electrons if they cannot reach the people and businesses that need to power,” the group said in a statement.

Pal Eitrheim, a vice president of Norwegian oil and gas giant Equinor, said companies also needed inflation brought under control.

“The war in Europe has shown us how fragile energy security can be. We need to build up sustainable supply chains capable of delivering unprecedented growth in wind power,” he said.