The UK and Belgium have signed an agreement in the areas of electricity interconnection, including offshore renewable generation.
UK minister of state for energy, clean growth and climate change Greg Hands (pictured) and Belgian minister for energy Tinne Van der Straeten signed the agreement, which spans infrastructure use as well as development and deployment of low carbon hydrogen and carbon capture between the two countries.
Hands said: “I’m pleased to be able to agree today even greater cooperation with our neighbours in Belgium on electricity interconnection.”
“We already have a longstanding energy relationship and this agreement will strengthen our joint energy security and reduce our exposure to global energy prices.”
Van der Straeten said: “Belgium and the United Kingdom sign a new cooperation agreement to build a second interconnection.
“The existing electrical interconnector, Nemo-Link, is one of the best performing interconnections in the world.
“The new link, which would be connected to the energy island, is a hybrid interconnection. This dual function means that power can be exchanged directly between the two countries and new wind farms can also be connected to it.”
The agreement comes after the joint bilateral cooperation signed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Prime Minister Alexander de Croo in November 2021 in which each leader recognised the importance of the UK-Belgium strong partnership on energy.