The second North Sea Summit will take place in Ostend, Belgium, on 24 April, in the presence of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the heads of state and energy ministers of the Summit’s founding countries - Belgium, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands - in order to exchange views on a common ambition to harness the energy and industrial potential of the North Sea and turn it into Europe’s largest power plant by 2050.
Also present this year will be France, England, Ireland, Norway and Luxembourg, as well as around 100 business leaders and industrial players from the energy sector and from these different countries.
“This is a summit about energy supply, affordable energy and the importance of maintaining every industry on the European continent”, summarised Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo at a press conference ahead of the summit.
He recalled that renewable energies, especially offshore wind, were the solution to guarantee Europe’s energy security, but that currently there was a lack of coordination between European countries.
“Standardisation, optimisation, the licensing process, financing, etc. are the areas where we need to work together. We need to coordinate our efforts and work with private companies”.
While numerical production targets will not be agreed this year (the founding countries signed the Esberg Declaration in May 2022 in Denmark, setting the combined offshore power capacity to at least 150 GW by 2050), Mr de Croo raised other challenges that will be addressed at the Summit, such as investing in energy connectivity between Member States and accelerating the transition from the technological innovation phase in offshore wind to a more massive industrialisation.
“This summit is about moving from commitment to action, with a particular focus on safety and security”, he stressed. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)