Norway’s Minister of Petroleum and Energy thinks this will help pave the way for increased renewable energy development.

Petroleum and Energy Minister Ola Borten Moe was in Berlin, Thursday, where he met with Germany’s Minister of Economics and Technology, Philipp Rösler. It was there it became clear that plans for a power cable between Norway and Germany can be realised by 2018.

Statnett, the German system operator TenneT and the German state bank KFW are cooperating on the German project.

At the same time, Statnett signed a cooperation agreement with British company National Grid confirming plans to build a power cable between Norway and the UK.

Planned completion of this cable is in 2020. The cable will be the longest subsea power cable in the world.

“Both these projects help strengthen the commercial basis for the development of renewable energy production in Germany, Britain, and Norway. This connects us much closer to Germany and the UK, and we can make the most of one another’s advantages and smooth out the disadvantages,” Minister Ola Borten Moe told Aftenbladet.