UK exit from North Sea energy project risks ‘slowdown’

Efforts to integrate the UK’s energy network with its European neighbours have been hit by its post-Brexit exclusion from a North Sea co-operation project, a senior National Grid director has acknowledged.

The UK was ejected from the European Commission’s North Sea Energy Co-operation project, which seeks to promote the integration of the region’s power resources through projects like interconnectors, earlier this year.

Martin Cook, head of business development at National Grid Ventures, told a meeting of the House of Lords EU environment committee yesterday (14 October) that the transmission network operator has “very strong business to business relations” with its European joint venture partners in the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway and France.

However, pressed by former Conservative environment minister Baroness McIntosh on whether the UK’s exclusion from the North Sea project had resulted in “downsides”, Cook said it had.

“We have been able to get on with projects, however there is a lot of regulation required to make the system work together end to end.

“In order to get a co-ordinated and integrated system, regulators and government need to be talking to each other.

“It has not slowed us down yet but because we need to change the way we do things: at some point that dislocation will slow things down.

“It hasn’t yet because lot of new ideas are in design and development phases. If we didn’t have a replacement for co-operation in next 12 to 18 months, it would cause a problem,” Cook said, adding that he hoped that co-operation arrangements can be restored once the UK’s trade deal negotiations with the EU have concluded.

Barnaby Wharton, director of future electricity systems at RenewableUK, agreed.

He said: “Not being part of those conversations slows down the regulatory process and adds unnecessary grist to the mechanism. Not being part of the co-operation makes everything less efficient: hopefully when the dust settles, we can get involved back in this.

“There needs to be inter-governmental co-operation too. Regulatory and market frameworks are essential: it’s really important that when the dust settles on the current negotiations, we can engage with those again.

“To make this (energy system) as efficient as possible, co-operation between regulators is going to be essential.”

Rene Peters, business director of gas technology at Dutch network company TNO told the committee that the North Sea is becoming increasingly congested as a result of growing pressures from shipping, renewable energy production and fishing.

However, Wharton said that the Crown Estate has a “rigorous” process in place to manage the seabed.

“Even if we build out to 200GW, it is still relatively small proportion of the whole area you use. It needs to be managed carefully but is compatible if managed properly.”