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Europe and UK sign energy security pact
Europe Clean energy
EU member states and the UK have signed a clean energy security pact to ‘bolster energy security for families and businesses across Europe’. The deal is expected to drive forward an unprecedented fleet of joint offshore wind projects among European countries, including the UK, Germany, Norway, France and Denmark, taking advantage of Europe’s abundant energy availability in the North Sea. The joint commitment is set out in the ‘Hamburg Declaration’, agreed on 26 January at the Future of the North Seas Summit. Europe and the UK intend to stand together to reaffirm their commitment to clean, secure energy as the only route to escape the fossil fuel rollercoaster. Three years ago, North Sea countries undertook to build 300 GW of offshore wind generation in the North Sea by 2050, in response to president Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and weaponisation of Europe’s energy supplies.
The agreed deal means that, for the first time, North Sea countries have agreed to deliver 100 GW of this offshore wind power through joint clean energy projects. These will include new ‘offshore wind hybrid assets’, that is, wind farms at sea that are directly connected to more than one country through
interconnectors. The European leaders met to push forward plans to transform the North Sea into the world’s largest ‘clean energy reservoir’. The Hamburg summit brought together European leaders in Germany, France, Belgium, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark and Norway.
Industry is expected to respond to the Declaration by unveiling ambitious plans for new projects, including more interconnectors, which are crucial to Europe’s energy security, enabling countries in the North Sea to send clean power to where it’s needed most and end Europe’s reliance on volatile fossil fuel markets controlled by other states. Further key outcomes and undertakings expected from the summit include further interconnection of the offshore grid, resulting from a statement of intent by the UK, Germany, Belgium, Denmark and The Netherlands to unlock cross-border offshore electricity projects, focusing on joint planning, cost- sharing and market arrangements to speed up delivery, and a framework for advancing offshore Hybrid Assets, which will deepen German and UK collaboration on this kind of asset, that is, advanced subsea energy infrastructure that combine offshore wind farm connections with electricity interconnectors.
Eco Wave Power advances 1 MW wave project Portugal Wave power
Eco Wave Power Global AB has completed an ocean wave and structural load assessment for its 1 MW wave energy project in Porto, Portugal, and has submitted its full execution plan to port authority Administração dos Portos do Douro, Leixões e Viana do Castelo (APDL). The assessment was carried out in cooperation with Netherlands-based MetOcean Consult, which provides metocean analysis and numerical wave and flow modelling services for marine and coastal infrastructure projects. The study focused on conditions at the Barra do Douro breakwater, where the project will be installed. According to Eco Wave Power, the analysis confirmed favourable wave climate conditions and wave-induced loading parameters for the company’s latest generation of floaters. “Accurate metocean data are essential for the safe and efficient development of marine renewable energy projects,” said Marco Westra, Managing Director of MetOcean Consult. “Our analysis of the Barra do Douro breakwater shows wave- and wave loading conditions that are well suited to Eco Wave Power’s latest
floater design, providing a solid technical foundation for the project as it advances toward execution.”
The Porto installation is the first megawatt- scale wave energy project under Eco Wave Power’s 20 MW concession agreement with APDL. Following internal engineering reviews, the company submitted its execution plan on 8 January 2026. Further coordination with APDL is expected in the coming weeks to finalise construction schedules.
Development milestones already achieved include payment of the first instalment of the grid connection fee, representing 50% of the total amount, and acceptance of grid connection conditions with Portugal’s electricity distribution operator, E-REDES. The company is targeting grid connection in 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.
The 1 MW facility will be installed within the existing breakwater structure known as “The Gallery” and will house Eco Wave Power’s onshore wave energy conversion equipment. The project is intended to support the integration of wave-generated electricity into Portugal’s renewable energy mix.
4 | January/February 2026 |
www.modernpowersystems.com
Eight new UK offshore wind farms
Location and size.of the new developments. Credit – Ember
UK Offshore wind
Leading up to the UK’s Round 7 auction (AR7) of offshore wind allocations, it had been estimated that at least 8 GW had to be secured to avoid an unrealistic burden on AR8, and therefore on the government’s Clean Power 2030 plan.
In the event AR7 has secured a record capacity of 8.4 GW, as announced on 14 January when the UK government released the results of Allocation Round 7 for the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme. According to analysis by the National Energy System Operator (NESO), the UK must increase capacity from approximately 15 GW today to 43 – 50 GW by 2030 if it is to meet the 2030 Clean Power target, the UK’s most ambitious climate policy, therefore in addition to the wind power already in construction, the government must contract 16 – 23 GW across the next two auction rounds, AR7 and AR8, to stay on track, because owing to construction timelines, only AR7 and AR8 can deliver the projects needed for 2030.
The capacity of the new projects is crucial, and so is the agreed strike price. Wholesale electricity prices are currently around £85/ MWh, however recent analysis shows that if strike prices are at or below £94/MWh, there will be no additional cost to billpayers. There are substantial economic and security benefits to the UK from having. independent electricity generation. Greenpeace estimates that the supply chain for floating offshore wind farms in the Celtic Sea alone could support 5000 jobs and £1.4bn towards the UK economy In the event the developments were agreed at strike-prices between £89.49 and £91.2 per MWh (2024 prices) except for two floating wind farms, Erebus and Pentland, each at £155.37.
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