UK and European nations join forces in bid to mobilise €1tn in offshore wind investment

The UK and nine other European nations have signed a new multilateral offshore wind pact aimed at attracting up to €1tn in clean energy investment.

The deal, dubbed the “Hamburg Declaration,” has backing from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and the UK. It aims to deliver around 100GW of offshore wind capacity, building what signatories described as an “unprecedented fleet of joint offshore wind projects between European countries”.

Under the agreement, governments will commit to building 15GW of offshore wind per year between 2031 and 2040, while also working to de-risk offshore wind investments. In exchange, industry body WindEurope said the sector is committed to mobilising €1tn of economic activity across Europe, creating 91,000 additional jobs and investing €9.5bn in the value chain, including manufacturing, port infrastructure and vessels.

Thanks to economies of scale, the cost of offshore wind is expected to fall by around 30% by 2040 compared with 2025 levels, WindEurope said.

As part of the agreement, countries will also collaborate on expanding an interconnected offshore grid to support cross-border energy projects and shared subsea energy infrastructure.

The announcement comes weeks after the UK held a record-breaking offshore wind auction, which was met with strong developer demand and secured around £22bn in investment.

The UK’s Energy Secretary, Ed Miliband, said: “We are standing up for our national interest by driving for clean energy, which can get the UK off the fossil fuel rollercoaster and give us energy sovereignty and abundance.”

The move was welcomed by James Alexander, CEO of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association, who said: “Financiers require stable, long-term frameworks to deploy capital at scale. The recent record-breaking AR7 wind auction underscored the sector's capacity to unlock billions of pounds of private capital, fuelling jobs and growth.”

He added: “The government’s continued backing of credible clean energy policies is crucial for sustaining investor confidence and maintaining the UK’s position as an attractive, investable market.”

Investors in offshore wind have faced a volatile five years, with rising inflation and interest rates putting pressure on project viability. Many developers were also locked into lower fixed prices under Contracts for Difference agreed before the inflation surge. However, a combination of stronger government support, easing inflation and more flexible CfD terms has helped to renew interest in the sector.