Germany and several other European nations are planning to build a billion-euro renewable energy network spanning the North Sea, a national daily reported Tuesday.

According to the Suddeutsche Zeitung, the project will link German and British offshore wind farms, Norwegian hydroelectric plants, and Belgian and Danish tidal power stations with undersea cables to compensate for the irregular nature of renewable energy.

"Representatives from Germany, Britain, France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Ireland, Luxembourg and Norway agreed to the massive undertaking in December and the respective governments hope to make it official by this autumn," the paper said.

The participating nations expect to have the high-voltage power grid complete within the next decade.

"Up till now everyone has done their own thing. We want to change that," a spokesman for the German Economy Ministry told the paper.

The European Union hopes to generate a fifth of its electricity needs from renewable energy sources by 2020, spurring the creation of gigantic offshore wind farms currently being built in the North Sea.

The paper said they are expected to produce 100 gigawatts of power, making the creation of the new energy network an important priority for Europe.

BERLIN, January 5 (RIA Novosti)