North Sea Wind Power Hub programme

The North Sea holds a vast offshore wind energy potential. Offshore wind is one of the key building blocks for the green transition of Europe and to meet the Paris Climate Goals. This is reflected by the 2050 capacity target of 300 GW set by the European Commission.

So far, energy policies in Europe have been mostly nationally focussed with inter-national cooperation only recently starting up. Further acceleration of cooperation initiatives is required to realise the full potential of the North Sea: The increasingly large and variable volume of offshore wind electricity will be difficult to integrate, and there is no single silver bullet solution.

Harnessing the power of the North Sea requires us to look at the whole North Sea area as one, and comprehensively rethink the energy systems of all of North-West Europe. This large-scale thinking is the only way to timely meet decarbonisation targets.

The North Sea Wind Power Hub (NSWPH) is an ambitious new approach to the challenge of integrating renewable energy. Today, climate policy is largely national, decoupled between energy sectors and incremental. The NSWPH takes a very different perspective. It is transnational, integrated and a step-change to a massive build out of offshore wind in the North Sea.

Duration: June 2020 - September 2023