Group of EU countries agree on boost to offshore wind power capacity

Baltic Sea Energy Security Summit
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen chat upon their arrival for the Baltic Sea Energy Security Summit, at Marienborg in Kongens Lyngby, north of Copenhagen, Denmark, August 30, 2022. Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix/via REUTERS

COPENHAGEN, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Eight European Union countries bordering the Baltic Sea have agreed to increase offshore wind power generation capacity sevenfold by 2030 to decrease dependency on Russian energy, Denmark's prime minister said on Tuesday.

The pledges come after Russia has either reduced or halted gas supplies to some countries since its invasion of Ukraine.

"We share a great potential for offshore wind," Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said at an energy summit in Copenhagen. "As long as we depend on fossil fuels, we are vulnerable."

The Baltic Sea currently has 2.8 gigawatts (GW) offshore wind capacity installed, with almost all of it in Danish and German waters.

The agreement was made at a summit attended by European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and ministers and lawmakers from Denmark, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Sweden, which all border the Baltic Sea.

Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; Editing by Angus MacSwan

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