U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm and European Union (EU) Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson were co-leaders of a business forum on offshore wind energy April 27 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, a news release said.
"Convening a U.S.–EU Energy Council High-Level Business Forum on offshore wind power shows our dedication to transatlantic partnerships that will accelerate investment to build domestic supply chains and deploy offshore wind farms in the United States,” Granholm said in a statement.
The conference began on the same day Russian energy company Gazprom announced it was stopping natural gas delivery to some customers in Europe, Simson said.
"This weaponisation of gas shows once again that we need to move away from Russian dependence," Simson said. "This is where renewable energy comes in. The European Union is already a global leader in offshore wind energy in particular. Today, we have 16 gigawatts of installed offshore wind capacity."
The goal is to increase wind power capacity in Europe even further, Simson said.
"We put in place the most comprehensive regulatory framework with a view to reach 60GW by 2030 and 300GW by 2050," she said. "There is a huge transatlantic business opportunity for our energy security and climate neutrality. We are ready to support this opportunity with our U.S. partners.”
The U.S. goal is to have 30 gigawatts of wind energy by 2030, Granholm said.
“By achieving our ambitious goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030, the U.S. will hit the trifecta of advancing our own energy security, helping combat the climate crisis and supporting an estimated 77,000 jobs in America," she said.
