Strategic planning of cable routes a priority for the Trilateral Cooperation

The LANICE project (North Sea wide acceleration of LANding offshore energy while mitigating Impact on the Coastal Environment), which supports the Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation in improving the planning and development of energy infrastructure, has been extended until the end of 2027. The extension provides additional time to build on the work already underway and to develop practical measures for better coordinated and environmentally sensitive planning of future energy infrastructure in the Wadden Sea. Against this background, a group of experts from Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands met in Hamburg on 10 September for a trilateral exchange on power cable construction and planning in the Wadden Sea.

The group, made up of members of the Trilateral Working Group on Renewable Energy alongside industry and NGO stakeholders, shared information on current and planned infrastructure, as well as the work being carried out in each country to avoid sensitive areas and minimise impacts on the habitats and species of the Wadden Sea. A draft strategic report presented by Haskoning and Ea Energy Analyses identified areas where the three countries can work together in practical and effective ways to improve planning, routing and construction practices for the infrastructure planned in the coming years.

As a next step, the group will define a set of implementation measures to put into practice the commitments made in the Trilateral Strategy on Renewable Energy Infrastructure. A report on the potential areas for joint work will be published in Autumn of this year.