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Offshore grid agreement

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The UK and nine other countries have signed an agreement to develop an integrated offshore grid in the North and Irish Seas yesterday.

Energy and climate change minister Lord Hunt signed The North Seas Countries’ Offshore Grid Initiative along with ministers from Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden and Ireland.

The countries’ ministers hope a grid spanning European waters will make supplies of electricity more secure for the participating countries by making it easier to optimise offshore wind electricity production. It is also hoped it will help the EU as a whole to meet its renewable energy targets for 2020.

Lord Hunt said a large part of cutting carbon emissions worldwide will be continuing the domestic decarbonisation of UK energy supplies by moving to low-carbon sources including wind.

‘We’re already the world leader in offshore wind in the UK and today’s announcements bring new funding and expert direction to grow this vital new industry,’ he added. ‘They also mean we can work with other countries in the EU to increase our renewable energy supplies.’

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