Denmark and the United States have signed a memorandum to strengthen cooperation on offshore wind energy projects.

Earlier this month, at the Embassy of Denmark in Washington, D.C., Danish Ambassador Lars Gert Lose and Abigail Ross Hopper, director of the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to recognize their countries’ common interests in developing offshore wind as a clean and sustainable energy source.

“This is a historic event for our respective countries as we work together to share knowledge, experiences, data, and best practices relevant to offshore wind energy development,” said Hopper. “This MOU represents an exciting milestone toward a achieving a clean energy future.”

“This agreement is a testimony to the strong transatlantic ties between Denmark and the U.S.” said Lose. “Denmark has been using offshore wind power as an energy resource for 25 years and I am delighted that we can help promote renewable energy in the world’s largest economy.”

Topics identified as high priority areas for cooperation include:

Promoting information sharing, best practices, and policy initiatives to support development and regulation of offshore wind energy resources;

working to identify and discuss challenges associated with financing and risk management for offshore wind energy facilities;

identifying opportunities with regard to protection of the environment, including the effects of offshore wind energy facilities on marine mammals, migratory birds, and cultural resources;

facilitating technical knowledge transfer related to grid integration of electricity generated from offshore wind energy facilities; and

knowledge sharing on a wide range of offshore wind energy issues, including supply chain, grid integration and interconnection, system planning to optimize offshore wind energy deployment, data on the benefits of offshore wind energy, and strategies for achieving cost reductions.