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New Energy World
New Energy World embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low carbon technologies.
Evolving energy generation in the North Sea
6/9/2023
8 min read
The North Sea is changing from a well of oil and gas to home of diverse green energy projects, most notably with offshore wind. But recent backtracking – such as the UK government’s decision to grant 115 bids for oil and gas extraction licences – demonstrates that this is not a simple transition. Keith Nuthall reports.
The North Sea, tapped for oil and natural gas in earnest since the 1960s by the UK, Norway, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium – is increasingly being utilised as a site for renewable energy projects, as well as carbon capture and storage (CCS). But with security of supply concerns intensifying as Europe cuts links with major oil and gas exporter Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, these coastal states have also launched new hydrocarbon exploration and development projects.
A key indicator of future energy sector travel was an agreement signed in April at a North Sea Summit II, staged in Ostend, a major Belgian North Sea port, where Germany, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Norway, the UK, Ireland and even landlocked Luxembourg, signed a declaration committing to major cooperation on developing offshore wind and renewable hydrogen projects.
Targets agreed included generating North Sea offshore wind power of at least 120 GW by 2030 and 300 GW by 2050. Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK also agreed combined targets of about 30 GW production capacity in large-scale onshore and offshore renewable hydrogen production by 2030.