North Sea Summit 2026 Sets Impulses for Offshore Wind Expansion with New Grid and Financing Models - Vestas and Ørsted Shares Lead the RENIXX
Hamburg (Germany) – At the invitation of Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Katherina Reiche, the North Sea Summit 2026 took place in Hamburg yesterday (26 January 2026). Germany and nine other European countries, together with the European Commission and industry representatives, agreed on a more closely coordinated expansion of offshore wind energy and grid infrastructure. The aim is to ensure a secure, affordable and geopolitically resilient energy supply for Europe.
The North Sea as a strategic energy and economic area
The third North Sea Summit follows on from the meetings in Esbjerg in 2022 and Ostend in 2023, but takes a further step towards implementation. At the invitation of Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Katherina Reiche, Germany and nine other European countries met in Hamburg on 26 January 2026. Representatives of the European Commission, NATO, as well as more than 140 participants from industry, associations and civil society also attended.
The political framework and motivation remain clearly shaped by energy and security policy considerations. The objective is to further reduce dependencies on fossil fuel imports and to establish the North Sea as a “green power plant for Europe”. A joint target has already been agreed to install up to 300 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2050.
Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Reiche described the region as a “strategic key area for Europe” and emphasized: “Together, we are strengthening our economic, security and energy policy interests in the North Sea. The vigorous expansion and smart networking of offshore energy creates affordable, clean and secure energy, reduces strategic dependencies and boosts overall European resilience.” The summit thus underscores the ambition to more closely integrate energy policy, industrial policy and security.
100 gigawatts interconnected: cooperation on offshore wind and grids
A core decision of the summit is the strengthening of cross-border planning for offshore wind farms and electricity grids. The North Sea states agreed to interconnect up to 100 gigawatts of generation capacity across borders. The focus is on so-called cooperation projects, meaning offshore wind farms connected to more than one country, as well as offshore wind farms located in the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of other countries but connected across borders.
This approach is intended to make more efficient use of available areas, reduce costs and increase system resilience. It is complemented by several bilateral and multilateral declarations of intent, including between Germany, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, aimed at establishing an interconnected offshore power grid. A permanent working group is to advance technical and regulatory integration.
In parallel, Germany and the United Kingdom agreed to intensify their cooperation on hybrid offshore interconnectors. The goal is to establish an initial connection by the mid-2030s that combines wind farm connections with electricity trading. To this end, the partners intend to identify regulatory hurdles and develop joint solutions for efficient infrastructure use.
Investment pact and new financing logic for the North Sea
A central economic element of the summit is the Joint Offshore Wind Investment Pact. In this joint investment pact, North Sea states, the offshore wind industry and transmission system operators agreed on measures to develop the North Sea region into the world’s largest hub for clean energy. The North Sea states aim to ensure a stable pipeline of offshore wind tenders beyond 2030, thereby creating long-term planning and investment certainty. In return, the industry commits to reducing the levelized cost of electricity by 30 percent by 2040, investing €9.5 billion in production capacities by 2030 and creating 91,000 additional jobs.
This political pact is supported by the work of the Offshore TSO Collaboration. The alliance of leading transmission system operators presented an updated concept for an integrated offshore energy system in Hamburg. In line with closer cooperation between countries, the TSO concept focuses on hybrid connections instead of national stand-alone solutions, as well as on new models for cost sharing.
A previously central obstacle to cross-border offshore projects was the unresolved question of a fair distribution of costs and benefits. As a solution, the OTC proposes a combined model that links ex-ante planning certainty with ex-post flexibility. Ex-ante means that countries define their cost shares before project commencement based on jointly modelled scenarios – an important step to enable reliable investment decisions at an early stage. Ex-post allows these shares to be adjusted after commissioning if real data show how strongly individual countries actually benefit. By combining both elements, a system is created that is reliable enough to trigger large-scale infrastructure investments while remaining flexible enough to fairly reflect actual system benefits. The aim is to combine investment security with flexibility and to mobilize private capital. Building blocks include public loans, green bonds, guarantees and hybrid instruments.
Summit boosts shares: Vestas and Ørsted stocks rise
In the capital markets, the North Sea Summit was perceived as a positive signal for the offshore wind sector. The shares of Vestas and Ørsted moved to the top of the renewable energy stock index RENIXX World yesterday. Vestas shares rose by 6.9 percent to €25.79, while Ørsted shares gained 4.3 percent to €19.00 (closing prices on 26 January 2026, Stuttgart Stock Exchange). Investors reacted in particular to the announced joint investment pact between governments, industry and transmission system operators. The announcement to pursue a stable pipeline of offshore wind tenders beyond 2030 increases planning and investment certainty from a market perspective. Additional momentum came from the targets to reduce electricity generation costs by 30 percent by 2040 and from the planned multi-billion-euro investments in European production capacities.
Conclusion and outlook
The North Sea Summit 2026 marks a shift from political objectives towards concrete implementation structures. Offshore wind, grids and financing are being systematically considered together for the first time. Whether the ambitious expansion and cost targets can be achieved will now depend on permitting processes, regulation and the actual implementation of the cooperation projects. The North Sea is thus increasingly coming into focus as a green power plant for Europe’s energy future.
Source: IWR Online, Jan 01 2026