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Offshore wind spearheads energy independence for Baltic nations

4C Offshore | Tom Russell
By: Tom Russell 31/08/2022 Baltic Sea Energy Security Summit
The heads of government for Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Finland and Sweden have signed the Marienborg Declarations which looks to accelerate the phase out of Russian energy by replacing fossil fuels. The signing took place at The Baltic Sea Energy Security Summit in Marienborg, Copenhagen on 30 August 2022.

Under the newly signed declaration, the participants have set combined ambitions for offshore wind in the Baltic Sea region of at least 19.6 GW by 2030, seven times the current capacity. The participants also recognise the substantial potential for offshore wind power in the Baltic Sea basin, reaching up to 93 GW and will pursue faster permitting processes and strive for a balanced coexistence of economic and ecological needs.

Furthermore, they agreed to explore joint cross-border renewable energy projects and identify infrastructure needs to enable the integration of renewable energy needed to ensure security of supply and affordable energy in homes and businesses, while respecting Member States’ national energy policy priorities and their choices of energy mix.

According to the Declaration, Russian energy will also be replaced by an increase in fuel imported by sea. The participants agreed to collaborate on an increase of fuel imported by sea, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied biogas (LBG), through the EU Energy Platform and ensure that the Baltic trade infrastructure, such as ports and LNG-terminals, will allow the necessary coordination in the face of growing maritime trade in the Baltic Sea.

The Declaration reads: "Russia’s unjustified military aggression against Ukraine undermines international security and stability and has massively disrupted the European and global energy systems. Russia has weaponised Europe’s dependence on Russian energy, which has underlined the need for strengthening the EU’s energy security by phasing out Russian energy and decarbonising the energy sector.

"In view of the Versailles conclusions on energy and the European Commission’s REPowerEU plan of 18 May 2022, we call for urgent and immediate action to increase energy resilience by making Europe independent of Russian energy as soon as possible

"As countries surrounding the Baltic Sea, we are ready to respond to Russian aggression in the field of energy. We are determined to strengthen our energy cooperation and energy resilience in support of our efforts to phase out our dependency on Russian fossil fuels as soon as possible while contributing to climate neutrality in the EU."


President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, stated at the summit: " We are harnessing the power of wind to break free from Russian fossil fuels and to become climate-neutral. And offshore wind energy can make a huge contribution to that. With the targets that have been set today, Baltic Sea offshore wind will cover the energy consumption of around six million households by 2030. That is more than the number of households in Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia combined. That is amazing. And we can do so much more. We now need regional cooperation to realise the full potential of offshore wind in Europe. So the European Commission strongly supports the regional cooperation initiatives – such as this one.


"We are making available EUR 5.6 billion from NextGenerationEU for the deployment of offshore and onshore wind in Europe. I encourage Member States to work together in using these funds. The cross-border projects are so important. We want to prioritise hybrid projects, which link offshore wind farms with more than one Member State. Because hybrid projects will save space, they will save money – they can cut up to 10% of projects' costs. And indeed, a great example, dear Kaja, is the ELWIND offshore wind project. And I am very glad that today, we could select ELWIND as an important cross-border project – PCI. Because it makes it eligible for EU funding under the Connecting Europe Facility, and that is good news."


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