{"id":109747,"date":"2022-05-23T07:08:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-23T05:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=109747"},"modified":"2022-05-20T13:00:42","modified_gmt":"2022-05-20T11:00:42","slug":"germany-denmark-netherlands-and-belgium-sign-e135-billion-offshore-wind-pact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/germany-denmark-netherlands-and-belgium-sign-e135-billion-offshore-wind-pact\/","title":{"rendered":"Germany, Denmark, Netherlands and Belgium sign \u20ac135 billion offshore wind pact"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

In a joint declaration<\/a>, the North Sea countries state their intention of becoming the \u201cGreen Power Plant of Europe\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The countries adjacent to the North Sea have signed an agreement to have 150 GW of offshore wind capacity in place by 2050.
[EPA-EFE\/Bo Amstrup DENMARK OUT]<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The North Sea\u2019s reliable winds, shallow waters, and proximity to industrial centres that are big consumers of electricity, makes it a perfect fit for the installation of offshore wind farms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday\u2019s agreement by the energy ministers is an important milestone in cross-border cooperation. It is the basis for the first real European power plants that also generate electricity from renewable energies,\u201d explained Germany\u2019s Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTogether with our partner countries, we can expand offshore wind energy in the North Sea region even faster and more efficiently and tap new potential for green hydrogen,\u201d he said, adding that this would \u201cfurther reduce our dependence on gas imports.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agreement aims for a tenfold increase offshore wind power capacity in the region, with total investments from the private sector expected to reach \u20ac135 billion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUsing the wind, using the North Sea has a long tradition in our countries,\u201d stated Germany\u2019s Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is former mayor of Hamburg, a North Sea shipping hub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Offshore wind no longer rely on subsidies and are getting \u201ccheaper and cheaper,\u201d he added, saying that now is the \u201ctime for industrialisation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ability to build these projects without public support makes them particularly attractive to policymakers. \u201cI\u2019m so happy that some of these wind farms are now being developed without public money being involved,\u201d highlighted Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are writing European history!\u201d tweeted<\/a> Brian Vad Mathiesen, a renewable energy researcher at Denmark\u2019s Aalborg University. The agreement, he added, will provide power for more than 200 million households.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Twitter @BrianVad<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, the four countries want to intensify cooperation in the production of \u201cgreen\u201d hydrogen from renewable electricity, with plans to expand related infrastructure in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Green hydrogen, a rare premium commodity, is highly coveted by steelmakers looking to produce carbon-neutral steel. \u201cThere is a real boom in demand for green hydrogen in industry,\u201d said Habeck\u2019s economy and climate ministry on Tuesday (17 May). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The North Sea wind farms should play a major role in supplying sufficient hydrogen, policymakers says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy harvesting the abundant offshore wind resources of the North Sea, we can also pave the way for the hydrogen economy. Offshore wind power frequently generates more electricity than is needed,\u201d wrote Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson and Danish Energy Minister Dan J\u00f8rgensen in an op-ed for EURACTIV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speeding up the renewable rollout<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The four countries also highlighted the importance of \u201cspeeding up\u201d permitting procedures at EU level, in line with the European Commission\u2019s \u2018REPowerEU\u2019 plan presented yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To accelerate deployment, the EU executive wants to make permitting procedures simpler, with new wind and solar projects being declared a matter of \u201coverriding public interest\u201d, and \u2018go-to\u2019 areas introduced at the national level in zones with low environmental risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium throwing their weight behind faster permitting, the North Sea looks like an ideal candidate to become the EU\u2019s first \u201cgo-to\u201d zone for renewables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNowadays we have permitting times between six and nine years,\u201d explained Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during the meeting in Esbjerg. In \u201cgo-to\u201d areas, those would be shortened to one year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis would be one here, in Denmark\u201d and it would be \u201cof utmost importance to the industry,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a joint declaration, the North Sea countries state their intention of becoming the \u201cGreen Power Plant of Europe\u201d.  The North Sea\u2019s reliable winds, shallow waters, and proximity to industrial centres that are big consumers of electricity, makes it a perfect fit for the installation of offshore wind farms. \u201cToday\u2019s agreement by the energy ministers is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"Heads of government from the North Sea countries met in the Danish town of Esbjerg on Wednesday (18 May) to sign a cooperation agreement on offshore wind development and green hydrogen. They will target at least 65 GW by 2030 and 150 GW by 2050","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[5838,5627,10630],"supplier":[2625,769,2317,8639],"class_list":["post-109747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-bioeconomy","tag-energy","tag-hydrogen","supplier-aalborg-university-copenhagen","supplier-deutsche-bundesregierung","supplier-european-commission","supplier-government-netherlands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109747\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109747"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=109747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}