Energy Secretary Grant Shapps has vowed to step up international cooperation in the face of the Russian threat to European energy supplies. Photo: Jacob King/Pool via REUTERS
They want to turn the North Sea into a major renewable energy hub as part of plans to cut carbon emissions and reduce dependence on Russian gas.
The Kremlin's decision to use gas supplies to Europe after its invasion of Ukraine has accelerated efforts in Europe to switch to cleaner energy.
The plans being discussed include a new 1.8 gigawatt (GW) electrical cable connecting the Netherlands and the UK to each other's energy markets and with wind turbines in the middle.
Nine countries aim to have a total of 120 gigawatts of wind power in the North Sea by 2030, enough to power millions of homes, and 300 GW by 2050.
However, new turbines and cables also create new vulnerabilities, given the risk that they could be damaged by hostile actors, which could lead to power outages.
Alexandre de Croo, Belgian Prime Minister, has warned that European countries are facing an unprecedented threat from saboteurs as plans for critical infrastructure for the North Sea speed up.
In an interview with The Telegraph, he said: “When we started building wind farms many years ago, this threat was not on the horizon.
“We need to better organize our monitoring, and then, by building new parks, we can provide security by design.
«It's a completely new area that we didn't talk about a year ago.» Mr. De Croo said underwater internet cables and connectors, electricity and gas pipelines were potential targets for increased protection.
He said: “They are worth a lot. There's a reason you keep boats away from them.»
Ms von der Leyen said the EU and the NATO military alliance have set up a joint task force in light of Russia's recent attempts to map wind farms and underwater cables in the North Sea.
She said: «We are monitoring the situation very closely because we know our critical infrastructure is at risk.»
The joint efforts of the EU and NATO will focus on improving defense. around wind farms.
Emmanuel Macron, President of France, said he was ready to offer resources to better protect new infrastructure projects in the North Sea.
He said: «We are available.
“This is part of our national defense strategy to participate in protecting critical infrastructures for energy and telecommunications.”
Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said: “From what Russia has done in Ukraine, or Russia has done in Georgia, or what Russia has done in Chechnya and other parts of Europe, it is quite clear that this is a country that bears the ill will of its neighbors.
“We have to admit it, if we haven't already experienced it. And this is one of the many reasons why we need to work with our partners in the European Union, America and elsewhere when it comes to strengthening our security.”
The reason for the damage to the Nord Stream pipelines last September not laid. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the investigation is ongoing.
The UK has been invited to the annual North Sea Summit for the first time in a sign of post-Brexit thaw and its critical role in the basin and offshore wind market.
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline was damaged in an explosion last year. Credit: DANISH DEFENCE/AFP via Getty Images
However, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was not present, leaving the UK out of the top ranks of countries representing new green energy ambitions on stage, including French President Macron and German President Olaf Scholz. .
Instead, Mr. Shapps was present as Minister of Energy. He was joined at the conference by business leaders, including developer SSE CEO Alistair Phillips-Davies.
Mr Shapps said the prime minister had previously pledged to meet more than 200 business leaders on Monday at the Business Connect conference, designed to reset the government's relationship with business.
«No one thinks we're not a key player here, but the prime minister can't be in two places at the same time,» he added.
Separately, Mr. Shapps today accuses Just Stop Oil of «environmental 'fanatics'» for helping President Putin build an energy weapon, calling for an end to oil and gas in the North Sea.
Demands to end fossil fuel licensing by Just Stop Oil protesters who closed roads in central London yesterday will weaken the UK's energy independence and cause bills to skyrocket, the Energy Security Minister writes in the Telegraph.
Mr Shapps' comments come after the Energy Bill was introduced in the House of Commons, which gives the government new powers to protect Britain's fuel supplies from national security threats and malicious protests.
Just Stop Oil protesters on Monday held up hundreds of vehicles during a «slow march» during rush hour in central London in what they say is the first new wave of destruction.
In an article for The Telegraph, Mr Shapps says: “Just Stop Oil activists and other agitators who threaten to destroy this country fail to understand that this generation-defining shift to cleaner and cheaper energy is not something that can happen overnight. It's a marathon, not a sprint.
«Eco-fanaticists who want to cut off North Sea oil and gas supplies by skyrocketing electricity bills and weakening our nation's energy independence never understand this point.
«Indeed, they seem intent on helping Putin use energy as a weapon of war against the West.»
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