The British government announced that Britain, Germany and Denmark, as well as other European countries, will sign a clean-energy pact on Monday at a summit in Hamburg, where they pledged to deliver 100 gigawatts of offshore wind energy through large-scale, joint projects.

The agreement came days after U.S. president Donald Trump intensified his criticism of green power, and it signals that Western and Northern European countries remain committed to using wind energy to increase the region's "energy security".

Ed Miliband, British Energy Minister, said: "We're standing up for the national interest of the UK by driving clean energy. This can get us off the fossil fuel roller coaster and give us energy sovereignty and abundance."

In 2023, the North Sea countries agreed to a larger goal of 300 GW?of offshore wind power by 2050. This was in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine which heightened fears over Europe's dependence on Russian gas.

The deal that will be announced Monday, which had been in draft form last week, is to be signed by Britain, Belgium and Denmark as well as France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and Norway at the North Sea Summit.

Katherina Reiche, German Economy Minister, said: "By planning and implementing grids, industry and expansion across borders, we are creating affordable and clean energy, strengthening Europe's industrial base, and increasing its?strategic autonomy."

Britain also said that it would sign agreements with smaller groups of nations attending to promote more efficient?development?of projects across borders, and infrastructure for creating wind farms on the sea which are directly connected to more than one nation.

In January, Britain had a record-breaking amount of offshore wind power capacity when it awarded contracts for projects with a combined capacity of 8.4 GW. (Reporting and editing by Helen Popper; William James)

(source: Reuters)