At the North Sea Summit in Hamburg, governments, transmission system operators and the offshore wind industry agreed an Investment Pact to strengthen planning certainty, mobilise investment and coordinate offshore wind deployment in the North Seas. The participating countries confirmed a long-term target of 300 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2050 and a coordinated build-out pathway supported by regulatory and financial measures.
Governments, the wind industry and transmission system operators (TSOs) signed the “Offshore Wind Investment Pact for the North Seas”. The Pact is underpinned by a Heads of State Declaration, an Energy Minister Declaration and an Industry Declaration signed by more than 100 offshore wind companies across the value chain.
Governments committed to improving investment conditions by adopting two-sided Contracts for Difference as the standard auction mechanism and by removing regulatory barriers to Power Purchase Agreements between electricity producers and corporate consumers. They also agreed to contribute to a collective deployment rate of 15 GW per year across Europe during 2031–2040.
The offshore wind industry committed to reducing costs by 30 % by 2040 compared with 2025 levels, driven by scale effects, lower capital costs and further industrialisation supported by clearer project pipelines. The industry commits to mobilising €1tn of economic activity for Europe, creating 91,000 additional jobs and investing €9.5bn in the value chain, including manufacturing, port infrastructure and vessels.
Transmission system operators will identify cross-border cooperation projects, including hybrid offshore wind and interconnection projects. They aim to identify 20 GW of economically viable projects by 2027 for deployment in the 2030s and to develop principles for sharing costs among participating countries.
