Norway joins cooperation on energy grid in the North Sea

Today the Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Terje Riis-Johansen, signed a political declaration on strengthening the regional cooperation on development of an offshore energy grid in the North Sea region.

On the side of the meeting of EU energy ministers in December 2009, nine European countries signed the declaration «The North Seas Countries Offshore Grid Initiative». As Norway is not an EU-member, Norway does not participate on the EU energy ministers meetings. However, Norway has followed the work regarding the offshore grid initiative closely and has now joined the cooperation formally.

Norway then forms the cooperation on an electricity grid in the North Sea together with Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland and the UK.

The goal of the cooperation is to coordinate the development of an offshore grid in the North Sea and connecting installations on the mainland. There are plans to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the continuing work on this initiative later in 2010.

 -Norway has a great potential for offshore wind power. Therefore, this cooperation is both interesting and important for us. I am glad that Norway has been invited to participate in an initiative that will be an important cooperation project for the countries around the North Sea, said Norwegian minister of petroleum and energy, Terje Riis-Johansen.

Declaration: The North Sea Declaration (pdf format)