North Sea summit to accelerate wind power expansion

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Germany and other countries want to turn the North Sea into Europe’s green power station by building wind farms. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and the heads of state and government of eight other countries want to advance the expansion of offshore wind power at a summit meeting in the Belgian coastal city of Ostend on Monday. The aim of the so-called North Sea Summit is to make the North Sea Europe’s largest supplier of energy by 2050. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, is also expected to attend the meeting.

In addition to Germany and Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Norway, Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg and Great Britain, the nine countries included together have more than 175,000 kilometers of coastline.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has announced that the plan is for these countries to collectively reach 134 gigawatts of offshore capacity by 2030. It should be more than 300 gigawatts by 2050. The value last year was around 30 gigawatts, according to the Belgian government. 8 gigawatts came from Germany, mostly from the North Sea. France, Norway, and Ireland, on the other hand, each produced significantly less than 1 gigawatt.

Protection against sabotage was also discussed

De Croo was campaigning not for new goals, but for their rapid implementation. Working better together should be about standardizing procedures and thus speeding up the construction of wind farms. “The faster we build these parks, the faster we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” At the same time, the summit should be concerned with protecting offshore facilities, for example, against acts of sabotage.

Researcher Simone Tagliapietra of Brussels think tank Bruegel believes that turning the region’s regular winds into renewable and affordable energy for millions of homes is the right approach. The North Sea has the potential to become “a hub for renewable energies”. But to do this, politicians must attract investment from the private sector, while also investing in infrastructure such as power grids, simplifying requirements and granting permits faster.

“I think the targets are ambitious, but that’s the kind of ambition we need if we want to reach net zero in Europe,” said Tagliapietra. The EU wants to be climate neutral by 2050. (SDA)

Source :Blick