COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Germany’s deputy foreign minister said on Friday that estimates show the Baltic Sea could produce “more than twice the installed capacity of all Germany’s coal-fired power plants” as the country works to meet Russia-supplied climate change and energy reduction goals.
In a video message ahead of the meeting in the Danish capital, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Germany wants to accelerate the expansion of wind energy produced in the Baltic Sea.
“Countries around the Baltic Sea” need to set sail, work together and work towards making our region more sustainable, more resilient and safer, Baerbock said.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz said Germany remained committed to ending greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, the earliest of any major industrialized nation. To this end, his government announced it would close coal-fired power plants that were reactivated during the war in Ukraine, end Russian oil and coal imports this year, and set a target Stop using Russian gas within the next two years.
Baerbock says the potential for the Baltic Sea “is huge. “The European Commission estimates that the Baltic Sea is capable of generating more than 90 gigawatts of wind power. That is more than double the installed capacity of all German coal-fired power plants”.
“Wind energy from the Baltic Sea will help us fight the climate crisis. And it’s an investment in our security: it will make us less dependent on gas from Russia,” Baerbock said.
On July 1, Germany assumed the position of president of the Council of Baltic Sea States for a year. The intergovernmental forum on regional cooperation includes the European Union and 10 member states: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland and Sweden.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the council suspended Russia from its activities. Moscow later said it had decided to withdraw from the council, saying the organization was turning into “an anti-Russian tool”.
Denmark is scheduled to hold a meeting next week on the Baltic Sea island of Bornholm to discuss how to “make the Baltic Sea region free of Russian energy and at the same time pave the way for a green transition”. significantly,” according to the Danish government.
Those expected to attend include the president of the European Union executive committee, the president of Lithuania, the prime ministers of Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Denmark, and several energy ministers.
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Frank Jordans of Berlin contributed to this report.
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