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The UK today joined with nine of its North European neighbours in signing up to an agreement designed to accelerate the development of offshore wind farms in the North Sea, the Channel, and the Irish and Celtic Seas.

Meeting ahead of a summit of the Formal Council of European Energy Ministers, ministers from Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, the UK, Ireland, Norway and Belgium signed a memorandum of understanding committing them to work together on the precise schedule for the development of an offshore transmission grid.

Under the terms of the deal, the nations will form three working groups consisting of representatives of government and industry that will report to ministers twice yearly on how to address the technical, administrative and investment barriers faced by the ambitious project.

UK energy minister Charles Hendry welcomed the agreement as a significant milestone towards developing an international offshore grid capable of exporting energy from offshore wind farms.

"The renewable energy resource in the North Seas can make a vitally important contribution to taking the carbon out of our electricity supplies," he said. "But we must make sure that we can overcome the challenges around developing the offshore grid. Working closely with our European partners on this ambitious programme of work will help to accelerate progress in this area."

His comments were echoed by Dr Gordon Edge, director of policy at trade association RenewableUK, who said the agreement represented a vital step towards delivering the interconnectors that will make it possible for offshore wind farms to export energy to the wider European market.

The agreement represents the most significant step forward for the project since the launch of the North Seas Countries' Offshore Grid Initiative late last year.