The European Commission presented its Green Deal Industrial Plan yesterday. It consists of a Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA) aiming to strengthen the EU’s industrial base for clean technologies, a Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) to increase Europe’s capacity to source and refine critical raw materials, and more flexible State aid rules. As it stands Europe’s Industrial Plan falls short of what’s needed to support and expand Europe’s wind supply chain and deliver on our energy security and climate targets.
The European Commission has proposed a targeted revision of the EU’s electricity market design. It makes Contracts-for-Difference the new norm for supporting renewables investments. It also allows investors to sell their electricity via Power Purchase Agreements or directly on the electricity market. And it actively supports the growth of PPAs. The Council and Parliament must now stick to this balanced proposal and end the current investment uncertainty caused by uncoordinated national market interventions.
On 6 March a broad coalition of wind and solar companies and industry and other associations signed an agreement with the Dutch Government on International Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) Agreement for the Renewable Energy Sector. By signing they commit themselves to make their entire international value chains more sustainable. The signatories will now tackle and prevent risks in the field of human rights violations and potential environmental damage.
The European Commission is preparing a Net Zero Industry Act and changes to Europe’s Electricity Market Design. CEOs of Europe’s leading energy companies say it’s essential to get the detail right in these proposals.
Europe built 19 GW of new wind energy capacity in 2022. 16 GW of those were in the EU. That’s 40% up on 2021. But it’s much less than what’s needed for the EU’s 2030 goals. And investments in new wind farms and new wind turbine orders were down in 2022: due to unhelpful Government interventions in electricity markets and inflation. The EU and national Governments must restore investor confidence. And they must engage proactively to support the European wind supply chain and enable it to grow.
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