Politicians from across Europe attending the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) have been urged to support the establishment of a North Sea wind power hub.
Lars Barfoed, chairman of Danish transmission system operator Energinet, addressed delegates on behalf of the North Sea Wind Power Hub Consortium, which along with Barfoed’s company consists of Gasunie, Port of Rotterdam, TenneT Netherlands and TenneT Germany.
He said: “The consortium share a vision that is bold but simple. We want to connect large-scale offshore wind power to a central hub and create new energy highways and trade corridors between the North Sea countries.”
The CEM, the centrepiece of Nordic Clean Energy Week in Copenhagen and Malmo, was attended by energy ministers from countries including Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and The Netherlands.
Barfoed added: “If a wind power hub in the North Sea is to move from vision to reality, whatever its technical and economic potential, it requires massive political support from a large number of participating countries.
“We need to focus more on the whole picture, regional synergies and how we can gradually develop wind capacity and infrastructure in the North Sea instead of each time building new wind farms as if they were the last ones.”
A North Sea hub would consist of so-called ‘power link islands’ interconnected to several wind farms and countries bordering the North Sea, the consortium has said.
Image: an impression of one of the island hubs (TenneT)
Rallying cry for North Sea hub
By EBS