The North Seas Energy Cooperation (NSEC), officially the Political Declaration on energy cooperation between the North Seas Countries, is a collaboration between EU member-states and Norway to create an integrated offshore

energy grid An electrical grid (or electricity network) is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids consist of power stations, electrical substations to step voltage up or down, electric power transm ...

which links

wind farm A wind farm, also called a wind park or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turbines covering an exten ...

s and other

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

sources across the northern seas of Europe. First proposed as the North Seas Countries Offshore Grid Initiative (NSCOGI), it is one of several European super grid schemes. Electricity would be transmitted via

high-voltage direct current A high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electric power transmission system uses direct current (DC) for electric power transmission, in contrast with the more common alternating current (AC) transmission systems. Most HVDC links use voltages betwe ...

cables, allowing it to be sold and exchanged in all involved countries. It would also make it easier to optimise energy production, and make the system overall less susceptible to the climate; Norway's hydroelectric power plants could act as a "giant battery", storing the power produced and releasing it at peak times, or when wind strength is low. Several high-voltage direct current interconnectors such as the

North Sea Link The North Sea Link is a 1,400MW high-voltage direct current submarine power cable between Norway and the United Kingdom. At it was the longest subsea interconnector in the world when it became operational on 1 October 2021. Route The cable ru ...

between Norway and Britain (operational since 2021) have been seen as integral parts of the project.

History

The North Sea Offshore Grid was proposed by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

in the Second Strategic Energy Review, published in November 2008. The initiative was identified as one of the six priority energy infrastructure actions of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. According to the European Commission, the North Sea Offshore Grid should become one of the building blocks of a future European super grid. The political declaration of the North Seas Countries Offshore Grid Initiative was signed on 7 December 2009 at the European Union Energy Council. The declaration was signed by the EU members

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, as well as Norway. The European Commission planned to publish a "Blueprint for a North Sea Grid" in 2010.Jan De Decker, Achim Woyte
4 offshore grid scenarios for the North and Baltic Sea
''Offshoregrid.eu'', July 2010. Retrieved: 24 August 2010.

Member states

The member states of the North Seas Energy Cooperation are; Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, together with the European Commission. The United Kingdom was previously a member but left following

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

on 31 January 2020. The UK agreed to reengage with NSEC at the first summit of the

European Political Community The European Political Community (EPC) is an intergovernmental forum for political and strategic discussions about the future of Europe, established in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The group first met in October 2022 in Prague, ...

in October 2022, and formally signed an agreement for cooperation with NSEC in December 2022.

Significance

Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources The Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment () is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment. The Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment is Darragh O'Brie ...

for the

Government of Ireland The Government of Ireland () is the executive (government), executive authority of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, headed by the , the head of government. The government – also known as the cabinet (government), cabinet – is composed of Mini ...

, Eamon Ryan, said of the initiative:

Studies

A techno-economic study into the North Sea Offshore Grid, has been set up within the European Union's Intelligent Energy Europe programme, to consider the technical, economic, policy and regulatory aspects of the possible grid, focused on the North Sea and Baltic region.

is building a national modular offshore grid, connecting several wind farms for common transfer of power onto land at Zeebrugge, near the

Nemo Link Nemo Link is a 1,000 MW HVDC submarine power cable between Richborough Energy Park in Kent, the United Kingdom and Zeebrugge, Belgium. The project is a joint venture between British National Grid and Belgian Elia. The 400 kV electrical interc ...

to England.

Support

Friends of the Supergrid, a group of companies and organisations interested in promoting the concept and influencing the development of a

super grid A super grid or supergrid is a wide-area transmission grid (electricity), network, generally trans-continental or multinational, that is intended to make possible the trade of high volumes of electricity across great distances. It is sometimes a ...

within Europe, has taken an interest in the North Sea Grid proposals. The organisation has proposed that Phase I of the supergrid should integrate the UK's North Sea renewables with interconnections to Germany and Norway.

Targets

In 2022, NSEC members agreed on a target of 260GW of offshore wind energy by 2050, a major part of the total EU target of 300GW of offshore wind energy capacity by 2050. Interim targets of 76GW by 2030 and 193GW by 2040 were also set. The UK plans to have 50GW capacity of offshore wind by 2030.

References

External links

North Seas Energy Cooperation

North Sea Offshore Grid

Political declaration on the North Seas Countries Offshore Grid Initiative
(PDF)
Signing ceremony of the political declaration on the North Seas Countries Offshore Grid Initiative
(video) {{Energy in the United Kingdom, sources Electrical interconnectors in the North Sea Proposed energy projects Proposed electric power infrastructure in Europe Electric power transmission systems in Europe