Ireland has taken on the presidency of the North Seas Energy Cooperation (NSEC) as nine countries sign a new political declaration to increase interconnection and coordination in offshore grid planning.
SuperNode CEO John Fitzgerald responded to the announcement:
“SuperNode welcomes the ambition of the cooperation in their goal “..to work together towards a more coordinated offshore grid planning of the North Seas.’ We believe that this ambition must extend to the entire European area and hope that Ireland’s presidency will encourage a deep involvement of the UK, who are no longer a part of the cooperation”.
The NSEC is made up of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway and the European Commission. The United Kingdom withdrew from the cooperation on 31 January 2020.
The new declaration has stated a number of new ambitions for the group which aims:
‘To facilitate the accelerated cost-effective deployment of offshore renewable energy, in particular wind, and the further energy interconnection between North Seas countries’
‘To develop a shared long term vision for the role of offshore renewable energy to deliver ambitious 2050 energy and climate objectives in the North Seas region and towards a joint understanding of the future energy system in the region’
The declaration also set out ambitious new offshore targets for the region. The objective is to “achieve an aggregate installed capacity of EU Member States of the North Seas Energy Cooperation of at least 70 GW by 2030” and “to develop a shared long-term vision for the role of offshore renewable energy to deliver ambitious 2050 energy and climate objectives in the North Seas region”.
Fitzgerald stated:
“If we are to achieve these offshore renewable energy objectives in the North Seas, more commitment will be required from the involved countries to the development of a true pan-European Supergrid. Voluntary agreements such as the declaration will not be enough but we hope this momentum will lead to a more formal intergovernmental agreement.”
The NSEC press release can be found here.
The full declaration can be found here.
The NSEC 2020-2023 Work Programme can be found here.