Why the gusty North Sea could give Europe an industrial edge

Fears aboutbasf the fate of European industry abound. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing gas crunch have dealt it a . , the world’s largest chemicals-maker, is shifting production away from its headquarters in Ludwigshafen in Germany. Nearly a quarter of the country’s revered firms are reported to be considering moving part of their operations abroad. And even as energy prices have fallen back, America’s protectionist and subsidy-laden Inflation Reduction Act is feeding fresh worries that industry might be lured away from the old continent.One unlikely bright spot is the part of Europe with the grimmest weather. As we report this week, a new is taking shape in and around the North Sea. Rather as hydropower fuelled Lancashire’s cotton mills and cheap coal the Ruhr valley’s steel furnaces in the early days of industrialisation, the promise of cheap, abundant wind power is attracting industry and infrastructure to Europe’s northern coasts. If this fledgling economy thrives, it could give the continent a new, greener industrial edge.