NSEC group photo in Copenhagen, Denmark; Credit: MECO

Luxembourg and Denmark have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation in renewable energy.

Luxembourg's Minister of the Economy, SMEs, Energy and Tourism, Lex Delles, participated in the ministerial meeting of the North Seas Energy Cooperation (NSEC) in Copenhagen on Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 October 2024.

During a bilateral meeting, Minister Delles and Danish Minister for Climate, Energy and Public Utilities, Lars Aagaard, signed an MoU to intensify their countries' collaboration in the development of renewable energy until 2030.

As reported by Luxembourg's Ministry of the Economy, this partnership builds on previous bilateral agreements on renewable energy statistical transfers and marks a strong political will to promote joint projects until 2030. The agreement provides in particular for:

- strengthening statistical transfers to achieve national renewable energy targets by 2030. ("statistical transfers" refer to the purchase of renewable energy by an EU member state from another member state that has achieved its renewable energy target and has a surplus;

- exploring long-term joint projects under the EU Renewable Energy Financing Mechanism;

- developing offshore energy infrastructure, including the production of electricity and hydrogen, with a particular focus on the importance of renewable hydrogen, and its competitive derivatives, into Luxembourg.

The two countries also intend to explore interconnected offshore infrastructure projects to facilitate the transport of these energies to European shores and their distribution across the continent.

The ministry added that this protocol underlines the joint commitment of Denmark and Luxembourg to promote sustainable energy solutions and contribute to Europe's energy transition.

At the ministerial meeting, the NSEC countries, i.e. the Benelux countries (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg), together with Germany, France, Denmark, Norway, Ireland and the United Kingdom, finalised their recommendations to the European Commission on the development of renewable energy in the North Sea countries.

Minister Delles specified: "Offshore wind energy represents a major asset to enable the European Union to achieve its ambitious climate objectives. Although we are a landlocked country, Luxembourg is a pioneer in maintaining its commitment, through a financial contribution, to the deployment of competitive renewable energy sources within the EU. At the same time, we continue to develop renewable energy on our national territory."