During this month’s UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen it has been leaked that a plan to create and build an offshore wind power supergrid in the North and North West seas. Dubbed the “North Seas’ Countries Offshore Grid Initiative” the action has been signed by a conglomerate of European countries, including; Denmark, Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Ireland.
In essence, the plan has been devised to unite and link individual ‘national’ power generation to a broader and less localised market of energy. For instance, the offshore wind parks throughout the various countries signed to the initiative will all be linked via a power network; therefore the power generated in Germany can be brought, sold and used in, say, Denmark or France – and vice versa. The idea behind this agreement is to breakdown any threats of potential energy ‘races’, where countries compete industrially and economically for the energy available to the Earth.
This action eliminates some of the concerns that UN countries would attempt to monopolise aspects of renewable energy, which might potentially create rifts within the United Nations, and instead allow a hospitable market – encouraging further participants to join.
Similar initiatives exist to help support the production and infrastructure of renewable energy within the UN but have predominantly been prescribed to unite a small number of countries. The ”North Seas’ Countries Offshore Grid Initiative”, however, looks to expand on this reciprocal relationship throughout renewable markets and the countries involved.
Ireland’s Department of Communications, announced in a press release earlier this month that the initiative will allow Irish wind farms to “connect directly to Europe, not only securing our energy supply but allowing us to sell the electricity produced on a wider market.”
Still in its fledgling stage, the agreement is set to undergo improvements and advancements in order to secure the integrity of the pact. At this stage, the countries involved are still predominantly unsure of the net costs involved in such an expedition; furthermore, it is still unclear whom it is that will be assigned the megalith production and tasking services, such as maintenance and security of the plants. The wind farms and transmission lines are also still relatively immature at this stage.
However, seeing that the initiative goes ahead and to plan, the “North Seas’ Countries Offshore Grid Initiative” will undoubtedly make a significant impact in helping Europe reach its target of generating 20% of its power from renewable sources by 2020 – perhaps the cornerstone of the Copenhagen Climate Change Conferences.
