UK Enters into North Seas Countries’ Offshore Grid Initiative

Lord Hunt announced today the Low Carbon Energy Demonstration fund recipients in the second set of grants being given out. The UK, and eight other countries, signed on to compete in a bid for funding which would be granted to the country which developed the best integrated offshore grid for the North and Irish Seas.

Additionally the government just recently announced an additional £5 million in new grants to be given to those developing offshore wind technology and research. The Low Carbon Energy Demonstration fund recipients have also been encouraged to develop transmission of offshore wind-power generation.

In Brussels, an Energy Council meeting saw the signing of an agreement between Lord Hunt, and minsters from France, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden, and the Netherlands in an initiative entitled The North Seas Countries’ Offshore Grid Initiative.

The declaration will define the breakdown for offshore wind energy and how it can be used to help the EU meet its 2020 renewables targets. The declaration also explains the benefits of offshore integrated grid technology in relation to security of supply and market penetrability.

The agreement is hoped to encourage a strategic working plan in which these countries will coordinate to develop offshore infrastructure as early as next year. Mainly, the goal is to develop a grid spanning the European continental coastlines connecting supplies of electricity among participating countries.

Lord Hunt said that the agreement would aid in contributing to important issues which will discussed at the Copenhagen talks including the decarbonisation of energy supplies which build up emissions when moving energy around the continent. He added that the UK is the world leader in offshore wind supply and connecting supplies between countries will only aim to expand the industry in a positive direction.