Offshore Energy

From oil and gas to wind and wave, offshore energy has presented opportunities and threats to coastal communities for decades.

KIMO member municipalities work together to lobby for the highest safety standards. We also demand appropriate environmental impact assessments and call for the greatest public benefit from all offshore energy projects. 

From the initial expansion of the oil industry in the 1970s to the start of decommissioning work on drilling rigs and the expansion of offshore wind farms and other renewable energy more recently, KIMO members have always defended the interest of people and nature in coastal areas. 

In fact, it was the growing threat of pollution – including from the oil and gas industry – that led to the foundation of KIMO in 1990. The oil spill from the Exxon Valdez tanker disaster had made headlines the year before. And North Sea oil fields were pumping millions of barrels of oil and gas every day.

Fast forward thirty years and it is offshore wind farms, wave and tidal power and undersea connectors, that are making the news, and presenting new challenges for coastal communities.

Oil and gas 

The extraction and transportation of fossil fuels has been a major industry in the North Sea since the 1970s. KIMO works towards the implementation of legislation that will raise health, safety and environmental standards in the oil and gas industry. KIMO also campaigns for adequate legislation to cover the decommissioning of oil platforms. Learn more.

Offshore wind

European offshore wind capacity is set to increase five times in the next ten years. Projects have already been authorised along our coasts and further out to sea. KIMO calls for minimum safety and environmental standards for offshore wind.