Newsarchive - WindEurope

WindEurope - WindEurope

Wind Industry Profile of

WindEurope

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Meshed grids the next frontier in leveraging the potential of offshore wind

04/26/2023

Europe has placed offshore wind at the heart of its energy transition. Governments across Europe have between them pledged 150 GW by 2030. And by 2050 Europe’s seas will have as much as 450 GW of wind farms. But delivering this requires major investment in grid infrastructure too.

WindEurope 2023 – It’s time to get serious about speeding up the expansion of wind energy in Europe

04/25/2023

From 25-27 April European Energy Ministers, more than 14,000 participants and more than 500 exhibiting companies gather in Copenhagen for the WindEurope Annual Event 2023. The event comes at a pivotal point for the wind industry in Europe. The European Union wants to accelerate the build out of onshore and offshore wind to strengthen Europe’s energy security and ensure affordable electricity prices for Europe’s consumers. But the European supply chain is struggling with increasing input costs and supply chain bottlenecks. WindEurope 2023 explores which policies are needed to strengthen and expand the supply chain now.

EU leaders meet in Ostend to agree rapid build-out of offshore wind in the North Seas

04/24/2023

Nine Heads of State & Government and the President of the EU Commission meet today in Ostend to agree new commitments on the build-out of offshore wind in the North Seas.

Revised EU Renewables Directive set to speed up wind permitting

04/18/2023

After 18 months of political negotiations the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission came to a provisional agreement on the revision of the 2018 EU Renewables Directive. They agreed on a higher EU renewable energy target of 42.5% for 2030. Crucially, the Institutions agreed to more measures for the simplification of renewables permitting than what the EU had before.

TEN-T must acknowledge the strategic role of ports in offshore wind

04/13/2023

All the relevant equipment for offshore wind deployment is stored in and transported via ports. The EU must recognise the critical role of offshore wind ports in its trans-European transport network policy (TEN-T). With an ongoing revision the EU wants its TEN-T to better support the transition to a cleaner, greener and smarter mobility in line with the European Green Deal. This will only succeed if the eligibility criteria for TEN-T don’t penalise offshore wind ports.

Europe invested €17bn in new wind in 2022, the lowest since 2009

03/30/2023

Europe invested just €17bn in new wind farms in 2022. That’s down from €41bn in 2021 and the lowest investment figure since 2009 – a stark warning to Governments and policymakers. The EU wants to accelerate the build-out of wind energy to strengthen its energy security and ensure affordable electricity prices. But recent market interventions and remaining barriers are deterring investors. Europe urgently needs to restore investor confidence. Otherwise it might see a drop in new wind farms instead of the big increase envisaged in REPowerEU.

Energy sector to EU Parliament: SF6 phase-out is welcome but mustn’t jeopardise the energy transition

03/28/2023

On Wednesday the European Parliament will discuss the phase-out of fluorinated gases, so-called “F-gases”. These F-gases all contain fluorine and are potent greenhouse gases.

EU Green Industry Plan falls short for now

03/17/2023

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.

EU electricity market design: Council and Parliament must stick to targeted reform

03/17/2023

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.

Wind industry commits to make its supply chains even more sustainable

03/14/2023

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.

Energy CEOs: Europe needs stronger wind supply chain and clear investment signals

03/06/2023

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.

The EU built only 16 GW new wind in 2022: must restore investor confidence and ramp up supply chain

02/28/2023

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.

Europe must get its Electricity Market Design right

02/27/2023

The EU is on its way to reform its electricity market design. The EU Commission will table legislative proposals in March.

Europe must boost the competitiveness of its wind supply chain

02/24/2023

The new EU energy security strategy REPowerEU wants wind energy to more than double the 200 GW installed today by 2030. This requires massive investments in new and existing industrial production capacities, and across the whole supply chain – from installation vessels to cranes, ports, research and innovation, grids, and skilled workers.

Pause to Danish offshore wind scheme is absurd

02/08/2023

The Danish Government has put on hold Denmark’s “open door” offshore wind development procedure. Pausing this established and effective scheme creates investment uncertainty for 20 GW of offshore wind currently under planning and development. It seriously undermines Denmark’s 2030 targets for offshore wind, which are central to Europe’s wider targets. And it flies in the face of the EU’s commitment to facilitate (rather than obstruct) the accelerated build-out of renewables.

Ensuring access to critical materials for steel and wind sectors essential for EU clean-tech economy

01/27/2023

Joint press release – The European wind industry and the European steel industry play a key role in enabling Europe’s clean tech economy. The upcoming EU Critical Raw Materials Act must account for the strategic role of this key value chain. It must ensure access to all critical materials for wind and steel, including rare earths, nickel, manganese, copper, aluminium, ferrous scrap, and glass-fibre fabrics. In the long-term the EU must ramp up domestic production and refining capacities for these materials, incentivise their circular use and promote innovative solutions.

EU and Industry launching a new project pathing the way for connecting multiple offshore wind farms and energy islands

01/20/2023

Europe is pathing the way for interconnected hybrid offshore wind farms. On this way offshore electricity transmission is a key challenge. The most efficient way of transporting electricity from offshore wind farms is via multi-terminal high voltage direct current (HVDC) grids. The EU-funded project InterOPERA will define future interoperability standards for these grids. The project was officially launched this week in Lyon, France.

Only a setback distance of 500 metres will support onshore wind in Poland

01/20/2023

Onshore wind has been stalled for a long time in Poland. The overly restrictive “10H” distance rule that came in 2016 excludes 98% of Polish territory from new onshore wind farms. Poland is about to adopt a new regulation that will relax 10H.

WindEurope response to Spain’s proposals on Electricity Market Design

01/18/2023

The European Commission is planning to table a reform to Electricity Market Design rules in March to help address Europe’s energy crisis.

EU wind installations up by a third despite challenging year for supply chain

01/11/2023

The EU installed 15 gigawatts (GW) of new wind farms in 2022. That’s one third more than 2021. This increase in new installations is an encouraging result given the overlapping challenges the industry faced in 2022. And the 15 GW installed are an important contribution to strengthening Europe’s energy security ahead of next winter. But Europe must continue to simplify permitting and invest heavily in its wind energy supply chain to deliver its energy and climate targets.

French renewable energy law: MPs must rise to the challenge and help boost energy security

01/09/2023

On 10 January France’s National Assembly is set to vote on a bill intended to accelerate the development of renewable energy projects. But some Members of Parliament could be tempted to keep or introduce unhelpful amendments to the text causing the bill to slow down the uptake of renewables instead of speeding it up. France shouldn’t miss this opportunity to increase its home-grown renewable energy production. It needs it to meet its climate targets and increase its energy security.

EU Energy Ministers adopt emergency measures on permitting

12/21/2022

EU Energy Ministers agreed to urgently speed up the permitting of renewables. The decision for emergency measures to accelerate permitting had been reached in November already but the final green light was given at the 19 December Energy Council in a package deal with the agreement on an EU gas price cap. Notably the emergency measures on permitting mark the first time that the EU defines in law the expansion of renewables as a matter of overriding public interest.

Slovakia has excellent wind conditions but must remove barriers to wind energy

12/16/2022

WindEurope participated in the annual event of the Slovak Association of Photovoltaic Industry and RES (SAPI). The event was held under the auspices Slovakia’s President Zuzana ?aputová. SAPI presented its study on the potential of wind energy in the country and a panel was dedicated to how the Government can boost the build-out of wind.

Repowering Europe’s wind farms is a win-win-win

12/02/2022

What happens when wind turbines reach the end of their lifetime? WindEurope’s annual “End of Life Issues and Strategies” event (EoLIS 2022) showcases the latest trends in repowering, decommissioning, dismantling and recycling of wind turbines. The latest data presented at the event shows the benefits of repowering. It nearly triples the capacity of a wind farm while reducing the number of turbines by a quarter, all on the same site. It’s a win-win-win situation for energy security, public acceptance and biodiversity.

What is the wind industry doing on skills and education to deliver a fair transition?

11/30/2022

On 16 November WindEurope Deputy CEO Malgosia Bartosik spoke at the European Employment & Social Rights Forum, organised by the European Commission. She presented some of the initiatives taken by the wind industry to ensure that it has the right talents to deliver the energy transition.

Increasing cost pressures and design flaws undermine Spanish auction

11/30/2022

Spain has published the results of its 2022 onshore wind auction. Plenty of wind energy projects bid in. But only 46 MW got awarded, results of combination of current cost pressures and a flawed “secret” price cap.

Government market interventions hit renewables investments

11/22/2022

Uncoordinated and ill-judged market interventions and new taxes on electricity producers are hurting renewables investments in Europe, at the time when we need them most.

Low wind turbine orders call for step change in Europe’s energy security strategy

11/01/2022

Wind turbine orders in Q3 2022 fell by 36% compared with Q3 2021. Europe urgently needs to solve permitting and strengthen its wind energy supply chain.

Europe needs to invest more in wind R&D to reach climate targets

10/27/2022

The European Technology & Innovation Platform for Wind Energy (ETIPWind) has started its new 3-year cycle of activity. ETIPWind supports the alignment, coordination and prioritisation of wind energy-related Research & Innovation (R&I) policies in Europe. Representatives from the industry, researchers, academia and policymakers launched the new 3 year cycle this month at an event in Brussels.

OCEaN: Speed up offshore wind and grid development with robust and timely Maritime Spatial Planning

10/24/2022

At a joint conference on nature positive offshore energy infrastructure hosted by Renewables Grid Initiative (RGI) and WindEurope, the Offshore Coalition for Energy and Nature (OCEaN) confirmed that it is possible to speed up offshore wind and related electricity grid deployment while protecting and restoring nature.