Hamburg (AFP) – A group of northern European nations vowed Monday to build up climate-friendly wind power in the North Sea to achieve greater energy independence from foreign suppliers. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz hosted a summit in the port city of Hamburg as Europe not only faces a hostile Russia but also worries about the future strength of transatlantic ties and US designs on Greenland. Aiming to make Europe more resilient in an uncertain world, the group of countries pledged to boost offshore wind power in the North Sea and turn it into the “world’s largest clean energy reservoir.”
They agreed to build up an additional 100 gigawatts of wind turbines — enough to power about 100 million homes — through an “unprecedented fleet of joint offshore wind projects.” Germany and Denmark also agreed on a project called the Bornholm Energy Island that will see an additional 3 GW of offshore wind power be connected to both countries. “The North Sea is a harsh environment, but it offers great opportunities,” said Merz. “By building the North Sea as a power hub for Europe, we can enhance Europe’s energy resilience,” he said, adding that it would also provide affordable energy to consumers, support the offshore energy industry, and help Europe achieve climate neutrality.
The agreement is a “very clear signal to Russia,” said EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen after it was signed by countries also including Belgium, Britain, France, and Norway. “No more will we let you blackmail member states of the European Union, and no more will we help indirectly fund the war in Ukraine,” he told a press conference. Germany and other EU members have been scrambling to wean themselves off Russian energy imports since Moscow launched its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. They have also been on heightened alert against suspected Russian sabotage and surveillance operations, which they blame for severed seafloor cables and mysterious drone flights over airports and critical infrastructure.
– ‘Wind is for winners’ – Imported US liquefied natural gas has helped replace Russian gas in Europe’s energy mix, and the European wind power push comes days after US President Donald Trump — a strong promoter of oil drilling who denies man-made climate change is real — branded wind farms “losers.” British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said that “offshore wind is for winners” and “absolutely critical for our energy security.” It provides “homegrown, clean energy that we control” and that is not under “the control of the dictators and the petro-states,” he said. Proponents of wind energy argue it is not only good for the climate but also for security, as such decentralized systems are more resilient to sabotage and attack than traditional power plants, pipelines, or oil tankers. Simon Skillings of think tank E3G said recent so-called hybrid attacks on infrastructure and the Ukraine war had shown that “a more dispersed infrastructure is more robust. You need basically multiple attacks rather than single attacks to knock out an energy supply.”
– Greenland tensions – The Hamburg talks came as the issue of Greenland and broader Arctic security loom large. Trump last week backed away from his threat to use force to seize Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, and to level punitive tariffs against European NATO allies who stand in his way. Among the leaders in Hamburg was Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who visited Greenland on Friday. “Europe has shown strength and unity these past weeks,” she said. “I’m grateful, but I also have to say it’s the only way forward. We have to build a much stronger Europe. To get there, we need to become more self-sufficient, more competitive, and more independent, and that is what today’s meeting has been about.”
Jorgensen — himself from Denmark — addressed the issue of whether the EU wants to reduce its dependence on US gas imports in the future. “We want to trade and deal with the US on as many issues as possible,” he said, but he added that “we are not aiming at replacing one dependency with a new dependency.” “We want to grow our own energy, and our strategy in the future is to become free of gas.” Frederiksen said “it was a huge mistake to be dependent on Russian fossil fuels” in the past and added: “Now we have to make sure that we will have no dependencies on other countries outside Europe, not only on energy, on everything.”
© 2024 AFP
