Nine EU nations to join forces on 100 GW of North Sea wind

Nine countries, including the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands, will pledge to jointly develop 100 GW of offshore wind in the North Sea and step up protection for critical infrastructure, Bloomberg reports.

100 GW of North Sea wind

According to a draft seen by Bloomberg, the energy ministers representing the countries are expected to sign on to the plan at a meeting in Hamburg next week, committing to the joint clean energy projects through 2050. The countries will also commit to sharing security-related data and working together to counter threats, stating that … “it is essential to continue to pursue a high level of physical and digital protection of our energy infrastructure” in the draft.

NATO, the European Commission, and Iceland will also participate in the Hamburg meeting (although I won’t hold my breath for US attendance).

The North Sea countries are aiming to achieve 300 GW of offshore wind by 2050, with a third (that 100 GW) coming from joint projects, and the draft says transmission system operators will kick off roughly 20 GW of those projects in the 2030s, Bloomberg reports.

Electrek’s Take

This ambitious offshore wind plan in the EU is fantastic news and will lower energy bills, help countries achieve their net-zero goals, and enhance energy security. Meanwhile, Donald Trump took his usual ignorant and obnoxious stance on wind power during his Davos address this week, asserting, among many other falsehoods, that the “windmills” all over Europe are “losers.” So it’s good to see Europe ignoring the guy putting his money on fossil fuels, who has made it his mission to do nothing but damage.

EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told CNBC on Wednesday, following Trump’s comments, “We take indeed a fundamentally different view here. We do feel that climate change has huge economic ramifications.”

Read more: US’s largest offshore wind farm can resume construction, in a third blow to Trump

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