The North Sea holds great potential for affordable, secure and sustainable energy for Europe. In order to get this natural energy powerhouse up and running, to give the hydrogen economy a strong push and thus put Europe’s future energy supply on a firm footing, the transport infrastructure must be further developed in a timely manner.

In advance of the North Sea Summit 2023 in Ostende, Belgium, with the participation of the European heads of government of the North Sea littoral states, nine European transmission system operators have published a declaration on the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy. The North Sea Summit 2023 is the successor to the Esbjerg format from 2022 with the major political goals of 150 GW of installed offshore wind capacity in 2050 and is intended to send a strong, joint signal for green transformation with the help of hydrogen and offshore wind power.

In order to meet the ambitious targets for both offshore wind production and associated green hydrogen generation capacity, the transmission system operators bordering the North Sea – Energinet, Fluxys, GASCADE, Gas Networks Ireland, Gassco, Gasunie, GRTGaz, National Gas Transmission and OGE – have signed a Memorandum of Understanding which they will deliver to their respective heads of state on the eve of the Summit. In it, the transmission system operators commit to a coordinated development of a hydrogen infrastructure to exploit the energy resources that the North Sea has to offer. The signatories of the declaration of intent on the German side are the German transmission system operators GASCADE and Open Grid Europe (OGE).

The Declaration is available for Download here (PDF).