Political leaders from Belgium, France, Germany, UK, The Netherlands, Ireland, Norway, Luxembourg, Denmark and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen are set to meet at the coastal town of Oostende in Belgium today.

Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen will join her political colleges from the countries around The North Sea to discuss how to expand the build of offshore wind power in the region even more.

The Summit is a follow up on the Esbjerg Summit in Denmark last May, where the participants agreed to tenfold the amount of offshore wind power in the North Sea before 2050.

Danish Shipping see it as important to continue to build momentum after the Esbjerg-declaration for the continued deployment of offshore wind in Europe. It is an important signal to send, on the back of the US IRA and especially the EU response, through the Net-Zero Industry Act.

“Today’s event sends a strong signal that a unified European offshore wind industry is ready to deliver on the political ambitions. The EU Net-Zero Industry Act has provided industry with a framework for an accelerated deployment of offshore wind – and now it is time for the industry to deliver. The Danish offshore wind shipping sector is ready”, said Bjarne Løf Henriksen, Head of EU Representation at Danish Shipping.

On the back of the Net-Zero Industry Act, it is more important than ever that industry and Government join forces in lifting the green energy transition of Europe, and that industry demonstrates the readiness to invest. The Danish offshore wind shipping sector is world leading and stands ready to deliver its part of the solution to both industry bottlenecks and market capacity.

“The prospect of unprecedented large-scale deployment of offshore wind energy in Northern Europe, promises many things – also for the shipping industry. We need green fuels and for that to happen, we need dedicated renewable energy. Today’s unified approach to large-scale offshore wind deployment is a very welcome step in the right direction”, said Bjarne Løf Henriksen, Head of EU Representation at Danish Shipping.