Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium announced yesterday that they will build at least 150 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2050.
The EU has a target of 300 GW installed capacity within that time frame, which means that half of its self-generated offshore wind energy would be coming from these four countries. 150 GW is enough capacity to power 230 million homes.
The annoucement was made in Esbjerg, Denmark. Denmarks Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte and Prime Minister of Belgium Alexander De Croo were present at the annoucement, as well as EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
– Developing offshore wind is of the utmost importance, not just as a part of the fight against global warming, but also as a crucial way to ween the EU off Russian fossil fuels, said Ursula von der Leyen to Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.
The 300 GW EU target does not include planned projects in the UK and Norway, which are not part of the EU. Norway announced last week its intentions of making concessions available to install 30 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2040.
