Europe Energy Ministers' Deal to Cooperate on Offshore Wind

Luxembourg, Luxembourg - Today in Luxembourg, Energy Ministers from 10 EU Member States signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Work Programme to enhance their cooperation on renewable energy, particularly offshore wind.

The Ministers of Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, France, Denmark, Ireland, Belgium and the U.K. signed the agreement, which aims to reduce the costs and accelerate the deployment of wind power at sea.

The agreement outlines a number of actions to help reduce costs in offshore wind, including cooperation on spatial planning, grids, finance, technical standards and regulation such as health and safety rules.

The MoU also highlights the need to coordinate the timing of offshore wind tenders and explore options for joint support schemes.

The signing of the MoU comes on the same day as 11 leading energy companies sign a declaration saying offshore wind can reduce costs to 80 euros/MWh by 2025 with a strong pipeline of projects.

Dickson, CEO of WindEurope said: "The industry has reinforced the new commitments of the 10 Governments by making its own new commitment on cost reduction for offshore wind. Costs can continue to come down quickly, but the volumes must be right. The main challenge facing offshore wind today is the visibility of market size and regulation after 2020. Clear targets for deployment and tendering will unlock new investments, reduce the cost of capital and allow us to meet the cost reduction target."

Source: IWR Online, 06 Jun 2016