Baltic Sea Countries Agree to Increase Offshore Wind Capacity Sevenfold by 2030

At the Baltic Sea Energy Security Summit, being held today in Marienborg, Denmark, leaders of the Baltic Sea countries will sign an agreement on increasing the amount of offshore wind capacity in the Baltic Sea sevenfold by 2030.

The target will be increased from the current installed capacity of just under 3 GW to almost 20 GW, enough generation capacity to power between 22 and 30 million households, according to the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI), Denmark’s largest business and employers’ organisation.

“This is a historic agreement that will put significantly more green power into the Baltic Sea countries’ green transition, which is absolutely necessary if we are to both achieve our climate goals and ensure independence in our energy supply. This is a very ambitious step in the right direction, which must now be followed up by concrete action plans”, said Lars Sandahl Sørensen, CEO of the Confederation of Danish Industry.

In its comment on the 20 GW target for 2030, DI said the permitting process for offshore wind must be accelerated if this goal is to be achieved in the next eight years. Today, it takes about nine years to build an offshore wind farm and DI estimates that this can be done in half the time.

The aim of the Baltic Sea Energy Security Summit is to jointly make the Baltic Sea region free of Russian energy and, at the same time, pave the way for a significant green transition. 

The summit has gathered the Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, the President of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda, the Prime Minister of Latvia, Krišjānis Kariņš, the Prime Minister of Estonia, Kaja Kallas, and the Prime Minister of Finland, Sanna Marin, the Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, as well as EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The energy ministers, the EU’s energy commissioner and representatives from energy companies and electricity system operators in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden and Germany are also participating in the summit, as is the director of the EU Agency for Energy Regulatory Authorities.

At the meeting, the countries’ leaders are discussing how the Baltic Sea countries can strengthen energy security and contribute to meeting the EU’s climate goals by developing renewable energy and connecting more closely with the rest of the EU.

The summit follows on from the European summit in Esbjerg in May, where a joint declaration was adopted to accelerate the development of green energy in the North Sea.

On 29 August, ahead of the Baltic Sea Energy Security Summit, Denmark and Germany entered into an agreement on connecting the Bornholm Energy Island to Germany, enabling the offshore wind power at this Danish energy island to be sent directly to the German electricity grid and on to the rest of Europe.

The agreement represents a new type of cooperation, where both countries will contribute to the infrastructure costs and benefit from the supply of green electricity.

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