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Representatives of nine European countries met this April 24, 2023 in Brussels, Belgium, to agree on a roadmap that allows them to accelerate the energy transition and move towards the construction of a megaproject for the generation of offshore wind energy.
As Europe searches for solutions to lessen Russia’s energy dependency, European Union leaders including France, Germany and the Netherlands, along with nations outside the bloc such as Norway and the United Kingdom, have agreed to speed up construction of a wind power generation plants.
The conflict in Ukraine and subsequent Western sanctions on Moscow saw Norway become Europe’s biggest gas supplier last year after Russia cut off deliveries following its invasion.
The European block seeks to reduce the use of fossil fuels, from clean energy. The project consists of the installation of a network of offshore wind power plants and the development of “energy islands” or connected renewable generation sites in the sea.
One of the attendees at the energy summit was the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, who called for industrial development to be European.
“Europe has become the house of renewables. And the North Sea is becoming the powerhouse of Europe.
The Ostend Declaration will give us all the wind we need in our sails to set the course onto climate neutrality.”
—President @vonderleyen at the #NorthSeaSummit23
—European Commission (@EU_Commission) April 24, 2023
The president affirmed that he does not want to “reproduce the mistakes that we made a few decades ago when, for example, we implemented large-scale solar panels and imported many of the materials that we needed. Therefore, this provides an opportunity for resilience, sovereignty and a ‘made in Europe’ approach, in which we believe”.
In a joint statement, the countries’ leaders announced that the project would have a combined offshore wind capacity of 120 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 in the North Sea and beyond, including the Irish Sea, and bring that capacity to 300 gigawatts for 2050.
The wind power generation project is being considered at a time when Europe is moving towards increasing the percentage of energy consumption from renewable sources to 42.5% by 2030, compared to 22% at present.
The summit, in which the foundations were laid to launch the energy megaproject, was also attended by the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, and the heads of Government of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte; Ireland, Leo Varadkar, Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, and Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel, as well as the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
With EFE and Reuters
