The major transmission system operators are confident that they will finally be able to cut through the knot in the faltering expansion of offshore wind power and that the North Sea countries will cooperate more closely in the generation and transmission of electricity and hydrogen. "The expansion of offshore wind power and corresponding grid connection systems is of central importance in order to provide the necessary amounts of electricity in good time. We see a good development here," Tim Meyerjürgens, head of Germany at network operator Tennet, told the F.A.Z. on the occasion of the North Sea summit on Monday in Ostend, Belgium.

Christian Geinitz

Business correspondent in Berlin

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"This is the only way to provide the huge amounts of renewable energy to make Europe greenhouse gas neutral by 2050," he said. It is not only generation that is decisive, but also the link with interconnectors, i.e. the development of a cross-border close-meshed power grid instead of only connecting wind farms to individual countries as has been the case up to now. The merger of Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark in Esbjerg, Denmark, a year ago gave a boost to the cooperation.

This will be strengthened in Ostend, for example by the inclusion of Great Britain and Norway. In addition, the Tennet and National Grid companies decided to build the first power line between sea wind turbines in Great Britain and the Netherlands (Lion-Link). This is "the first step towards an integrated electricity grid in the North Sea". The four governments in Berlin, Copenhagen, Brussels and The Hague had agreed in 2022 to enable at least 2030 gigawatts (GW) of offshore electricity capacity by 65 and then 2050 GW by 150.

Close cooperation with grid operators enables hybrid projects

"This has provided an enormous boost, also to get more players on board," said Meyerjürgens. Tennet connects two-thirds of the 65 GW itself, but is now in close contact with other electricity and gas network operators to enable hybrid projects in the North Sea region. 50Hertz and Amprion are participating from Germany, Elia from Belgium, Energinet from Denmark and Gasunie from the Netherlands. Together, they not only want to achieve the electricity targets, but also build up 2030 GW of hydrogen capacity on land and water by 20. Germany has 8 GW of offshore electricity capacity, ranking second in Europe behind the UK with 14 GW.

In Ostend, nine European countries took part on Monday, including France, Ireland and Luxembourg. In the "Ostend Declaration", they agreed to double the expansion decided in 2022: The "ambitious targets" for the North Sea as the "green power plant of Europe" were now 120 GW by 2030 and "at least 300 GW by 2050". In the case of "green" hydrogen, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and Great Britain are planning about 30 GW by 2030 "and want to expand their production even further by 2050," according to the declaration, which was signed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), French President Emmanuel Macron and Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, among others.

The European Commission, which also wanted to be represented at a high level with President Ursula von der Leyen, had recently estimated the necessary financial resources for the 300 GW at around 800 billion euros. On the occasion of the summit, the Wind-Europe association criticised the fact that not enough public funds have been raised for offshore expansion so far. In a technical paper presented on Monday, the transmission system companies confidently said that the joint project would show "how an internationally coordinated vision, which at the same time takes into account national plans, can unlock a significant part of Europe's offshore wind potential and achieve the goals of the EU's 'Green Deal' - both in terms of timing and volume".

The continent can achieve energy independence

If Europe acts swiftly to create hybrid interconnectors in the North Sea countries, the continent will be able to "enjoy more energy independence and also show the world that a sustainable future is possible". In view of the partial blowing up of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, the summit also wanted to discuss the safety of the cables and other technical facilities. For this, closer cooperation with NATO is planned, it said.

Meyerjürgens said that the faltering offshore expansion in Germany was due to the "hesitant attitude of the previous government". As a result, there was a "thread break" in the extension after 2018. "A lot of trust has been lost, especially among small and medium-sized companies," said the manager. "Fortunately, with the clear political commitment of Europe and the German government, it is coming back: investors are ready, and supply chains are being rebuilt."

However, the demand of many countries is now very high, so that "exponential growth" can only be expected from 2029 onwards. Together with partners, Tennet recently launched "Europe's largest tender for energy transition infrastructure". In order to build offshore transmission capacities in the German and Dutch North Seas in the order of 28 large power plants, component contracts worth 30 billion euros have been awarded, it said.