The IKEM annual conference on September 18 was dedicated to the development of offshore wind energy and projects for the production of green hydrogen in the Baltic Sea region. The aim of the conference was to shed light on the national strategies of the Baltic Sea countries and identify ways to strengthen cooperation. Prof. Dr. Michael Rodi, director of IKEM and spokesperson for the “Energy” cluster at the Interdisciplinary Research Centre for the Baltic Sea Region (IFZO) at the University of Greifswald, is an expert on international cooperation in the energy sector. In this interview, he talks about the interdependence of national energy systems, the protection of critical infrastructure and the growing importance of comparative law for effective climate protection.
This year’s IKEM annual conference focused on offshore wind energy and green hydrogen in the Baltic Sea region. Why was this focus chosen?
IKEM is an affiliated institute of the University of Greifswald and has therefore always been intensively involved with the energy transition in the Baltic Sea region, and in particular with issues relating to offshore wind energy – for example in the Baltic InteGrid and BOWE2X projects. With BOWE2H, another flagship project for transnational energy cooperation in the Baltic Sea region is now coming to an end. We are also conducting research on these issues at IKEM as part of the IFZO Energy Policy Cluster and wanted to present these results to a wider audience in Berlin.
What is the significance of transnational cooperation in the energy sector and climate protection?
Climate protection in itself is an international challenge because all countries are affected, regardless of where the greenhouse gases are produced. It can therefore only be addressed collaboratively. The energy transition is the most important path on the way to a climate-neutral world. National energy systems have always been interlinked. The focus on renewable energies and the development of an international hydrogen economy will intensify this even further. The European Union has responded to this by establishing and strengthening an energy union. However, cooperation in the energy sector must also be expanded worldwide, for example when it comes to providing the raw materials required for the energy transition and developing a global hydrogen economy.
What legal framework is required for this?
Bilateral agreements in the energy sector, such as those already concluded by Germany, can form a basis, but will no longer be sufficient to solve the enormous challenges of the energy transition. In Europe, we can consider ourselves lucky that the European Union has good preconditions for a common energy policy and is also making increasingly powerful use of them. Furthermore, we urgently need new multilateral agreements in this area. With good reason, the EU has left the Energy Charter, which previously secured transnational fossil fuel investments. Now we need a replacement that meets the challenges of the energy transition. In the Baltic Sea region, we can build on existing structures such as the Council of the Baltic Sea States to create a common energy area in and around the Baltic Sea.
The Nord Stream conflict and the war in Ukraine highlight the interdependencies between security, energy and climate protection. How should we react?
The attack on the Nord Stream pipeline – and incidentally also a connector between Estonia and Norway – show the vulnerability of transnational elements of the energy system. At the same time, interconnectors, pipelines and LNG terminals, which will be used to transport green hydrogen in the future, will become even more important in the wake of the energy transition. We need to work together to better protect these critical infrastructures. A set of instruments is currently being developed within the European Union that points in the right direction: in addition to military protection and closer cooperation between states, effective protection will also require the integration of private players in increasingly complex security concepts.
What additional research needs do you see?
The energy transition not only means a revolution in the economic and social system, but also in the necessary legal and political framework. In view of the ambitious goal of achieving greenhouse gas neutrality by the middle of this century, there is no time for each country to develop its own path. We must therefore focus more on comparative law and continuously analyze which instruments have been successfully developed by other countries. Together with my colleague Johannes Saurer from the University of Tübingen, I am currently working on a book comparing the law on renewable energies in Europe. Further research projects of this kind will have to follow in order to provide national politicians and legislators with a basis for their work on the respective legal and political frameworks.
