EU to Discuss Energy Infrastructure

Energy Union Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič and Climate Action and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete will attend the Energy Infrastructure Forum tomorrow in Copenhagen, where they will also meet with the Danish Energy Minister Lars Christian Lilleholt.

The forum, hosted by the European Commission and the Danish government, aims at facilitating stakeholders’ participation in the policy shaping process and making sure that EU’s energy legislation is goal-oriented, operational and comprehensive.

Ahead of tomorrow’s forum, Danish Minister Lilleholt and EU Energy Commissioner Cañete stated: “Denmark is ideally situated to drive the Energy Union project forward and benefit from it as well. It connects continental Europe with the Nordic region and its huge potential for renewable energy. This means that when the wind blows, Danish wind turbines are able to send electricity via interconnectors to Norway, Sweden and Germany, while Norwegian hydro power plants fill water reservoirs that act as batteries, ready to re-export power once the wind stops blowing in Denmark.

“Estimates on the potential of wind resources in the Northern seas indicate that it could meet up to 12 percent of the EU’s entire electricity demand. With the declining costs of renewable energy this scenario suddenly becomes a viable and competitive option. A good example of declining costs from the offshore wind sector is the price of electricity that was reduced by more than 25 % over 5 years as the recent Horns Rev 3 offshore wind park in Denmark was down to €100.31 per MW hour.

“This is no longer just a theoretical idea. This June, the North Seas countries have signed an agreement to cooperate on further bringing down the costs of offshore wind and developing the electricity grids in the North Seas. New interconnectors already planned in the region – Projects of Common Interest such as the COBRA cable between Denmark and the Netherlands, the Norway-UK NSN Link, and the potential UK-Denmark Viking Link project – turn the first steps of this vision into reality.”

The Energy Infrastructure Forum is key to ensuring that the current energy infrastructure targets, that are part of the wider climate action and energy framework, continue to be ambitious and relevant, in particular the most immediate target of achieving 10% interconnections by 2020, according to the European Commission.