The UK and the European Union are setting up a new forum to co-ordinate offshore renewable energy development in the North Sea as part of the Brexit trade deal.
The deal, which was ratified by Parliament in a special sitting last week, also confirms the temporary continuation of existing interconnector energy trading arrangements and the UK’s departure from the EU’s energy regulatory umbrella bodies.
In a boost for the offshore wind industry, which is emerging as the lynchpin of the government’s strategy to decarbonise the UK’s electricity system, the trade and co-operation agreement states that a new EU-UK forum will be set up to oversee technical discussions about renewable development in the North Sea.
The forum’s remit will include moves to develop an offshore grid, joint projects in the North Sea, maritime spatial planning and sharing best practice and information on new technologies.
The forum will include officials, transmission system operators, the offshore energy industry from both the UK, the European Commission and EU member states.
The creation of the forum follows the UK’s ejection last year from the European Commission’s North Sea Energy Co-operation project, which brings together the EU’s littoral member states to promote the integration of power resources through projects like interconnectors.
Utility Week reported last year the National Grid’s concerns that the UK’s exclusion from these North Sea co-operation arrangements would hold back efforts to develop the region’s offshore wind resources.
The 1,246 page agreement also says trading of electricity and gas through the interconnectors that link the UK and the EU will continue, although new arrangements must be in place by April 2022.
The EU and the UK have agreed that they will continue to ensure that the maximum level of capacity of electricity interconnectors is made available and that any emergency curtailment should take place in a non-discriminatory manner.
The document also confirms that the UK will leave the pan-EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators.
However, a new Specialised Committee on Energy will oversee trading and balancing energy arrangements between the EU and the UK.
The deal also includes provisions to ensure that EU energy suppliers will not be discriminated against in the UK and vice-versa. The same level playing field will apply to capacity market mechanisms.
Commenting on the Brexit agreement, RenewableUK’s director of strategic communications Luke Clark said: “We welcome the announcement of a Brexit deal as we hope it will provide certainty for investors and stability for hundreds of companies developing and operating vital renewable energy projects throughout the UK.
“It’s important that our future arrangements with the EU’s energy market allow us to trade power in a way that maximises the benefits of the interconnection with EU countries, so we can export our surplus power and import flexibly to support our energy system when necessary.”