Europe's energy security and sustainability need wind power and grid growth now, more than ever

Two major interconnection projects – the Bornholm Energy Island and Viking Link — offer a blueprint for delivering Europe’s wind power ambitions and strengthening energy security – but urgent action is needed to build a grid fit for a clean power future.

According to the latest data from Eurostat, roughly 60% of all energy available in the EU is imported, with more than 90% of those imports coming from oil and gas. This shows how dependent we are as a continent on external sources of energy — especially those that are experiencing highly volatile prices with the extreme increases due to the conflict in the Middle East.

European countries like Germany, Italy and Greece, where more than 40% of the electricity comes from fossils fuels, will face higher electricity costs due to the war. Countries less exposed to fossil fuels, like Sweden or Finland, will meanwhile see a very limited impact.

This energy crisis is a clear call-to-action for Europe to diversify its risks and become more energy independent. Climate change and Net Zero goals have driven much investment within the energy sector to date, but the task is now equally about economic resilience and energy security.

Here, wind offers a stable, homegrown alternative that Europe controls – and which is also one of the cheapest sources of energy that can boost our competitiveness.

By the end of 2025, Europe exceeded 300GW of installed wind power, a fifth of all the electricity consumed in Europe. By 2030, that share is expected to grow to 34%, with 439GW, so we are going in the right direction. In the meantime, other sources of electricity remain important to a more decarbonized energy mix, mainly nuclear and gas, that account for 23% and 17%, respectively, of electricity consumption in the EU.

When it comes to offshore wind, countries are now working together to build a new kind of energy system that is clean, connected and resilient. An example is the Thor wind farm off Denmark, which is already feeding electricity to the grid and could, once fully operational, power more than one million homes.

The next big step, as outlined in the EU Hamburg Declaration signed last January, will be hybrid projects connecting countries and wind farms at sea. The Bornholm Energy Island connecting Denmark and Germany will be a first blueprint for this kind of project, in which Siemens Energy is playing a key role.

The focus must now shift firmly to delivery, with clear project pipelines, de-risked investment frameworks and stronger cross-border collaboration to turn ambition into capacity.

Grids and interconnectors remain a fundamental investment

The most urgent investment is grid connectivity. Generating huge amounts of clean power through wind requires a vastly modernised grid that can sustain it.

Across Europe, the existing grid requires major investment. The EU has one of the most extensive electricity networks in the world, spanning over 11 million km, but the average age of grid in Europe is around 50 years, the oldest globally.

As wind capacity increases, grid development must keep pace, linking generation with demand, enabling the flow of energy across borders and supporting electrification of industry, transport and heat.

Europe’s Ten-Year Network Development Plan sets out a significant expansion of high voltage ‘direct current interconnection’ – essentially just the network to carry growing volumes of clean power – by 2030.

This includes an ‘interconnected’ approach, enabling surplus wind generation in one country to support demand in another, helping to stabilise prices and improve the security of supply. Crucially, this approach also reduces Europe’s reliance on importing fossil fuels and strengthens the region’s energy autonomy.

A shared blueprint for Europe’s energy independence

This vision is already becoming reality through projects such as Viking Link, a record-breaking 765-km-long land and subsea cable connecting British and Danish energy grids for the first time, helping to lay the foundation for a more integrated European energy system.

Viking Link serves as a key blueprint for what can be achieved through strong cross-border collaboration. Scaling this approach is essential if Europe is to fully harness wind power and ensure lasting energy independence. However, this needs sustained political commitment, a stable regulatory regime and continued alignment between governments, operators and wider industry.

To deliver this at scale, Europe must invest boldly in both wind and the grids that connect it, turning ambition into action and ensuring clean electricity from wind can flow seamlessly across borders, wherever and whenever it’s needed.

If we get this right, wind will power homes and industries across the continent for generations to come, while also underpinning a more secure, competitive and energy-independent Europe, reinforcing the continent’s role as a global leader in how to build the energy systems of the future.

The war in the Middle East is another wake-up call for Europe to be more energy independent. Let’s not wait to accelerate the pace.