Germany to host North Sea talks on Jan 26 to boost wind energy
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is set to host fellow nations bordering the North Sea later this month to discuss turning the region into “the biggest reservoir for clean energy worldwide.”
The German government has invited leaders and energy ministers from Belgium, Denmark, France, Britain, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Norway to attend the third North Sea Summit in Hamburg on January 26.
EU officials and business representatives are also expected to take part, while officials from NATO and Iceland have been invited to join the talks for the first time, according to a statement released on Monday.
The aim of the summit is to push ahead with the cross-border expansion of offshore wind energy, the hydrogen market and an efficient and interconnected offshore infrastructure throughout the North Sea region, the statement said.
The offshore infrastructure is likely to involve linking wind farms to increase cross-border electricity trading and transport.
At the 2023 North Sea Summit in Belgium’s Ostende, countries signed a declaration to expand offshore windparks in the region in order to turn the North Sea into the “green power station” of Europe.
However, not a single bid was submitted in Germany last August for the tender of two wind power areas in the North Sea, with industry groups arguing that risks for businesses are too high.
