What future for Europe’s offshore renewable energy sector?

Catherine Banet (PhD) is Professor of Law at the University of Oslo, and Head of the Department for Energy and Resources Law, Norway. Her legal research activities focus on energy market design, energy transport infrastructures regulation, support schemes and financing models, focusing on renewable energy and notably offshore wind, climate change mitigation measures such as carbon capture and storage (CCS), and hydrogen regulation.

Prof. Banet has a background from the private law practice (Norway, France), the European Commission (DG ENV), U.S. diplomatic mission and academia. She is a member of the Academic Advisory Group of the Section on Energy, Environment and Infrastructure Law of the IBA, and Chair of the Board of the Norwegian Energy Law Association.

Morten Helveg Petersen has served as a member of the European Parliament since 2014 as a Vice-Chair of ITRE, acting as Shadow Rapporteur on several key reports such as the European Energy Security Strategy, the implementation report on the Energy Efficiency Directive and more recently as Rapporteur on the regulation of Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER). In the 2019-2024 mandate he continues his dedicated work on securing the green transition, where he has recently been appointed Rapporteur of the European Parliament’s Offshore Renewable Energy Strategy.

Before that, he served as a member of the Danish parliament from 1998 to 2009, after which he became the vice president of the association of Danish Media. In September 2013, the Danish Social Liberal Party nominated him their top candidate for the 2014 European Parliament election. He is also Chair of Energy Solutions, a cross-party European Parliamentary network which brings a holistic approach to EU Energy Legislation.