North Seas Energy Cooperation: Opening speech by EU Commissioner Simson

Dear Lars, Ministers,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It’s a real pleasure to be here with you today in Odense, one of Europe’s most dynamic manufacturing hubs for offshore wind. I can’t think of a more fitting place to conclude what has been a truly intense and productive year of work within NSEC.

With the excellent lead by Denmark, we’ve made remarkable progress, and I’d like to begin by expressing my sincere thanks to our Danish hosts for welcoming us today.

[Progress and Momentum in 2024]

This year, there has been a significant momentum for the deployment of offshore renewables across the North Sea. The NSEC has been highly active, with key meetings in Bilbao during the WindEurope conference, or in Bruges, hosted by the Belgium Council Presidency.

I’d also like to thank Denmark’s Co-Presidency for their initiative in organising stakeholder sessions. These have been essential exchanges for identifying challenges ahead and concluding on further steps to achieve our goals together.

We all know our objectives, this is to say 110 GW by 2030 and over 300 GW by 2050. Europe currently has 35 GW of installed offshore wind, much of it concentrated right here in the North Sea. But we must accelerate project delivery. Some challenges remain, but we are well on track to unlock the full potential together.

[Key Achievements Over the Past Year]

Before we look ahead, let me come back to what we’ve achieved over this past year. A year ago, the Commission unveiled the Wind Power Package to support the wind sector, including offshore. We discussed it together at last year’s NSEC ministerial meeting in The Hague. Since then, most of the actions have already been delivered.

For instance, we’ve issued a new Recommendation and guidance on auction design. We updated the recommendation and guidance on permitting. We provided guidance on designating renewables acceleration areas.

The European Investment Bank has launched its EUR 5 billion counter-guarantee scheme for wind energy manufacturing, a truly significant step. Another milestone was the opening of preliminary reviews under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, which ensures a fair playing field for wind projects in several EU Member States.

Under the Regulation on Trans-European Networks for Energy and the EU Grid Action Plan, we’ve enhanced regional planning for offshore wind. ENTSO-E published their first Offshore Network Development Plans this year, providing valuable information on the designs of networks we need to achieve Member States’ regional goals.

We have also had further discussions on supporting investments for offshore. Before the summer, the Commission issued guidance on collaborative investment frameworks for offshore energy projects, outlining concrete ideas to further support the deployment of offshore projects, particularly for offshore hybrids. These ideas require further discussion, tailored to the needs of each region.

We will continue engaging with you – including today – to advance on this very important topic.

[Focus Areas for the Future]

Looking ahead, we must continue focusing our efforts on several areas well identified by the North Seas Energy Cooperation.

Common Planning and Cost Allocation:

First, we need to work further on a common planning framework and ensuring fair allocation of costs and benefits if we want to see projects coming off the ground.

Financing Challenges:

Second, financing remains a significant challenge. We need to carefully assess the nature and scale of investments required and explore innovative approaches to secure the funding and financing necessary to realise our ambitions, following up on the guidance I just mentioned.

Such developments should go hand in hand with more integrated network planning based on enhanced regional cooperation.

Legislative and Regulatory Implementation

Third, we have to unveil the full potential of the recently adopted Fit for 55 legislation through swift implementation and the development of supporting measures. The transmission access guarantee set out in the revised Electricity Market Design, for example, needs to be developed at network code level.

Furthermore, anticipatory investments to support the offshore network development, can be accelerated through a new guidance. These are important areas for which work is starting now.

[Enhancing European Competitiveness and Supply Chain]

Dear friends,

European competitiveness is a central pillar of the Commission’s agenda. Secure supply chains will be essential for it. Enhancing transparency is key for our industry and stakeholders.

I am thrilled to see that the NSEC tender tool was updated today. We must continue building on it, together with the EU digital platform for renewable energy tender planning. And we need to collaborate closely with industry to make it most useful for the whole supply chain.

The Commission is also working on implementing acts regarding non-price criteria in auctions and public procurement, mandated by the Net-Zero Industry Act. This will play a key role in fostering the sustainability and resilience of Europe’s renewable energy supply chain. We expect to have these acts adopted by March 2025.

[Addressing Skills and Environmental Considerations]

Skills will be an important challenge and is a key priority for the Commission, highlighted in the Commission President’s political guidelines for 2024-2029.

We should also not forget that the co-use of space and environmental protection are pre-conditions for achieving our offshore ambitions. Moving from purely national Maritime Spatial Planning with cross-border consultations to a more regional approach will be crucial. The Greater North Sea Basin Initiative is an important platform to build on in this context.

[Offshore Renewable Hydrogen Development]

And last but not least, further steps on advancing offshore renewable hydrogen in the North Sea will also be needed to ramp up the European hydrogen market and unlock the potential of offshore wind.

I look forward to discussing all these important topics with you today.

Thank you.