The North Sea area has vast low carbon energy potential and will play a central role in the European energy transition
The North Sea region is one of the busiest maritime areas of the world and is surrounded by densely populated, highly industrialised countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and United Kingdom). The region is very important for the European energy transition given its large resource potential, its vast infrastructure and its ports on the coastline that provide access to the world and the European hinterland. In the past decades exploration of natural gas and oil reserves has shaped the offshore energy landscape of the North Sea. In the last decade the North Sea countries combined produced roughly 2 PWh/yr of natural gas equalling almost 90% of Europe’s combined production (EU27, United Kingdom and Norway) and about 40% of total demand in 2020. To this end the North Sea has more than 500 offshore platforms and more than 50.000 km of offshore pipelines. These existing offshore assets might provide opportunities for offshore energy activities in the future.
In the same decade offshore wind has seen large capacity increase towards 28 GW of offshore wind in 2021. The North Sea is the leading in installed capacity and expertise; and is one of the most promising regions for offshore wind due to its high wind speeds and shallow waters. The North Sea basin has an economically attractive offshore wind resource potential of 418-635 GW of installed capacity which could produce 1.6 – 2.9 PWh/yr, equalling approximately 40-70% of projected European electricity demand in 2050. The Netherlands can accommodate roughly 100 GW of offshore wind when considering multi-use of space offshore. Although less mature, other ocean energy technologies like floating solar, wave and tidal energy also show promising potential for the North Sea in tens of GW range.
Offshore wind and other ocean energy options can be utilized to deliver both renewable electricity and hydrogen towards shore with new or existing pipelines. The production of green hydrogen could support the transition of the ports and industrial clusters in north-western Europe that already produce and consume around 5 Mt of fossil based hydrogen.
To help decarbonise the industrial clusters in north-western Europe the North Sea also has a very large geological storage capacity for CO2. The central and strategic location of the North Sea close to many core European emission sources provide a good opportunity for carbon, capture and storage. Estimates of geological storage capacity in the North Sea range from roughly 50 to 250 billion tonnes (Gt) of CO₂, with the United Kingdom and Norway comprising the bulk of this capacity. Tens of Gt of storage capacity are provided by depleted oil and gas fields while saline aquifers hold the largest storage potential (hundred or more of Gt). The Netherlands storage capacity in offshore oil and gas fields is estimated at 1.7 Gt. The combination of natural gas production capacity and reserves and CO2 storage capacity also brings forward the opportunity to produce blue hydrogen as part of the hydrogen supply mix along with green hydrogen and imports.
To unlock the potential of the North Sea sketched above to the fullest boundaries between different energy transition sectors, stakeholders, commodities and countries should be dissolved. This can be barriers of different nature, including: technical, regulatory & standards, social/cultural, economic/financial and spatial. The interests of all parties involved require alignment. But by doing so and approaching the North Sea as an integrated system, the costs of the energy transition can be reduced, security of supply can be ensured and the spatial claim and impact on nature of energy transition can be mitigated.