European Commission: New Baltic offshore wind work programme agreed through BEMIP

A new work programme in the Baltic Sea region dedicated to offshore wind has been adopted within the framework of the High Level Group on the Baltic energy market interconnection plan (BEMIP). Agreed at a meeting of senior officials from the 8 EU countries in the Baltic region, the programme confirms the commitment to coordinate on the development of the offshore grid. Other areas of cooperation include maritime spatial planning focusing on offshore wind development, cooperation on enabling appropriate financing, and the acceleration of specific Baltic offshore projects and permitting.

Speaking after the agreement, EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said:

In last year’s Offshore Renewable Energy Strategy the Commission specifically highlighted the potential for developing offshore wind technologies in the Baltic region and so I’m delighted that this is moving forward within the BEMIP framework.

The EU Offshore Renewable Energy Strategy, published in November 2020, outlined the enormous potential for the EU to develop offshore renewable energy technologies. It outlined a broad ambition of increasing EU offshore wind capacity from its current level of 12 GW to at least 60 GW by 2030 and to 300 GW by 2050.

This agreement follows a declaration by Energy Ministers of the 8 EU countries in the Baltic Sea region and Commissioner Kadri Simson in September 2020 committing themselves to closer cooperation on offshore wind in the Baltic Sea