The Belwind offshore wind farm in the North Sea. Hans Hillewaert via Wikipedia
A group of European leaders pledged Monday to build 100 gigawatts of offshore wind, enough to power more than 50 million homes. As Europe faces a hostile Russia and an increasingly bellicose U.S., experts see deepening risks in its reliance on imported fossil fuels.
Meeting in Hamburg, Germany, ministers from the U.K., Germany, France, Belgium, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, and Norway agreed to a blueprint for a vast offshore wind network that would link up neighboring countries, allowing energy to flow where it is most needed. German Energy Minister Katherina Reiche said the plan would bring greater “strategic sovereignty.”
The agreement follows two previous summits held in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, during which countries pledged to add more offshore wind to curb their reliance on imported Russian natural gas. Europe has made significant progress in weaning off Russian imports, both by installing more renewable power and by expanding gas imports from other countries, including the U.S.
In 2019, 60 percent of natural gas imported to the European Economic Area came through Russian pipelines. By 2025, the figure had fallen to just 8 percent. Over the same period, the share of gas imported from the U.S. rose from 4 to 39 percent, according to a new policy brief from a coalition of European think tanks.
But increased reliance on U.S. imports poses serious risks, warns the brief, which comes amid tensions over a push by President Trump to take over Greenland. Analysts note that, in its latest national security strategy, the U.S. said expanding energy exports will allow it to “project power” overseas.
“Historically, interferences by the U.S. government in gas markets to exert pressure on Europe were considered unthinkable,” said Raffaele Piria, of the Ecologic Institute, a think tank based in Berlin. “In the current geopolitical context, this assumption is questionable.”
Louise van Schaik, of the Dutch think tank Clingendael, said, “True energy security requires accelerating domestic renewables and electrification to gradually phase out gas and oil imports, not just shifting fossil fuel suppliers.”
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