Nine European countries to discuss building wind farms in the North Sea

Leaders from nine countries bordering the North Sea will discuss building wind farms today. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will join the leaders of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands and Britain at a summit in the Belgian city of Ostend.

„By joining forces, we will accelerate the energy transition, strengthen our leading position in technology and ensure zero-carbon energy for millions of households and businesses in Europe,“ Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said, according to the summit website.

He added that the goal is to build the world's largest renewable energy generation capacity in the North Sea.

Today's meeting follows a summit held in Esbjerg, Denmark, last May. At the time, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany officially declared their intention to build wind farms in the North Sea with a combined capacity of 150 gigawatts by 2050. According to the website of this year's summit, that is equivalent to the electricity consumption of 150 million European households.