Newsarchive - WindEurope

WindEurope - WindEurope

Wind Industry Profile of

WindEurope

Newsarchive - WindEurope 6

Poland adopts historic Offshore Wind Act

01/14/2021

The Polish Parliament unanimously adopted Poland’s first Offshore Wind Act today paving the way for Poland to develop offshore wind in the Baltic Sea. The Act will enter into force on 1 February after it’s been signed by the President of Poland.

Global demand for corporate renewable electricity sourcing continues to grow despite COVID-19 pandemic

12/10/2020

Corporate renewable electricity sourcing in Europe has shown continuous growth despite the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrating the resilience and potential of Europe’s renewable energy sector. In November 2020, the cumulative contracted volume of corporate renewable power purchase agreements (PPAs) in Europe reached the 11 GW mark, up from just 2.2 GW by the end of 2016 and with a record 3 GW contracted in 2020 alone.

WindEurope elects Andreas Nauen, Siemens Gamesa chief, as new chairman

12/01/2020

WindEurope’s Board of Directors has elected Andreas Nauen, CEO of Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE), as the association’s Chair for the next 18 months. Nauen will lead the association together with Nicolas Couderc, EDF Renewables Executive Vice-President, who serves as Vice Chair.

Renewable Hydrogen Coalition will position Europe as world-leader on renewable hydrogen

11/24/2020

The new coalition will support and accelerate the uptake of renewable hydrogen solutions in Europe. A new study released at the launch shows that renewable hydrogen in Europe could grow at much faster rate than current strategies suggest.

What happens when wind turbines get old? New Industry Guidance Document for dismantling and decommissioning

11/24/2020

WindEurope’s End-of-Life Issues and Strategies Seminar (EoLIS 2020) explored what happens when wind turbines reach the end of their operational life. Industry experts discussed the latest trends and developments in repowering, lifetime extension, decommissioning and recycling. WindEurope presented a new Industry Guidance Document for the dismantling and decommissioning of onshore turbines.

Industry ready to deliver on EU’s plan for 25-fold increase in offshore wind

11/23/2020

WindEurope welcomes the Offshore Renewable Energy Strategy presented by the European Commission today. The Strategy foresees 300 GW of offshore wind in the EU by 2050. Offshore wind is set to be the number one source of electricity Europe consumes by around 2040. The European wind industry is ready to deliver this. But beefing up offshore wind requires large-scale investment in ports, grids and the supply chain.

8 “to dos” for Governments to deliver the expansion of onshore wind needed for the Green Deal

11/18/2020

Europe wants to be climate neutral by 2050. And onshore wind will play a central role in that. According to the European Commission‘s decarbonisation scenarios it will be a quarter of Europe’s electricity consumption by 2050. That requires a 4-fold increase in the volume of onshore wind capacity between now and then. The European wind industry today presents 8 policy recommendations for Governments on how to deliver that.

Leading NGOs, grid developers and the wind industry start new partnership to ensure the sustainable development of offshore wind

11/17/2020

16 November saw the launch of a new Offshore Energy and Nature Coalition. It’s an new partnership between leading environmental NGOs, transmission system operators and the wind industry. They are going to work together to ensure Europe delivers its planned expansion of offshore wind while at the same time preserving nature and marine ecosystems.

Coherent trade policies are key to a competitive EU wind supply chain delivering the Green Deal

10/30/2020

Today the EU is home to a world-leading wind energy supply chain. More than 248 factories across Europe produce the components we put in our turbines and 5 of the top 10 leading wind turbine manufacturers are EU-based. This translates into €37bn to EU GDP, over €8bn in goods and services exports every year and 300,000 jobs.

Hybrid renewable power plants make a good business case but need clearer legislation to become more widespread

10/26/2020

On 8 October WindEurope spoke in a “Hybrid Power Plants” conference organised by Solar Plaza. The conference focused on hybrid wind/solar and wind/solar/storage power plants and how can help speed up the energy transition.

Each new wind turbine installed in Europe generates €10m of economic activity

10/16/2020

Wind energy is 300,000 jobs in Europe and contributes €37bn to EU GDP every year according to WindEurope’s new report: ‘Wind Energy and economic recovery in Europe – How wind energy will put communities at the heart of the European recovery”. European leadership in wind energy will continue to boost jobs and benefit communities. Delivering the National Energy and Climate Plans is key.

New Belgian Government set to reinforce climate & energy commitments

10/08/2020

Belgium now has a new Government. Prime Minister Alexander de Croo’s administration strongly supports the European Commission’s proposed emission reduction target of at least 55% for 2030 and has hinted at beefing up the country’s climate and energy ambitions. Tinne Van der Straeten from the Greens (Groen) is appointed as the new federal Energy Minister.

European Green Deal Call is launched

09/23/2020

European Commission launches €1 billion European Green Deal Call for green and digital transition

WindEurope elects Philippe Kavafyan, MHI Vestas Offshore Wind CEO, as new chairman

09/22/2020

WindEurope’s Board of Directors has elected Philippe Kavafyan, CEO of MHI Vestas Offshore Wind, as the association’s new Chair for an 18-month term. Kavafyan takes over the Chair from Vattenfall’s Gunnar Groebler. The Board also appointed Nicolas Couderc, EDF Renewables Executive Vice-President, as the Association’s new Vice Chair.

Governments and industry are ready to build hybrid offshore wind farms but the EU needs to remove bottlenecks

09/17/2020

On 15 September WindEurope participated in an event organised by Dutch-German TSO TenneT on Europe’s Offshore Wind Vision – with Ministers and top officials from Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark and CEOs of many of Europe’s TSOs.

European Commission proposes raising 2030 climate target to at least 55 percent

09/17/2020

President Ursula Von der Leyen officially called for a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of at least 55% to 2030 in her 16 September State of the European Union speech.

Germany: Proposed auction system disadvantage in competitive international environment for offshore wind

09/09/2020

During the 2020 WINDFORCE Conference hosted by wab e.V. in Bremerhaven (Germany) on 3-4 September, WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson addressed the current political developments on the German market. In a panel he spoke about the importance of auction design and the regulatory framework for the future of the German offshore wind supply chain.

Clarity and visibility on auctions key to unlock Turkey’s onshore wind potential

09/01/2020

On 27 August WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson joined a panel with IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol and the Turkish Wind Energy Association (TÜREB) President Hakan Y?ld?r?m. They addressed the resilience of the wind industry during the COVID-19 crisis, and the positive prospects wind energy can offer to Turkey in the context of the post-COVID-19 recovery.

How much wind is needed to deliver on the EU’s renewable hydrogen goals?

08/27/2020

Direct electrification will be the primary driver for decarbonising the European economy by 2050. Another important element will be renewable hydrogen – it will play a key role in decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors such as heavy-duty transport. This requires a substantial uptake of highly scalable and cost-competitive wind energy, WindEurope argued at the Green Hydrogen Virtual Summit.

Continued expansion of wind energy is critical to jobs

08/19/2020

Wind energy is a key technology to Europe’s recovery from COVID-19. New wind projects are cost-competitive and shovel-ready. And to achieve the Green Deal objective of climate neutrality by 2050, Europe needs five times more wind energy than it has today.

First tender under new Irish support scheme awards 19 wind farms

08/13/2020

Ireland’s Transmission System Operator EirGrid has reported the results of the first auction round under the new Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS-1). The RESS-1 auction system is comprised of three different auction pots: a first pot for solar projects only, a second pot is for community projects and a third pot, the so-called “general pot” that features wind energy and solar projects.

Record low price in latest Greek onshore wind auction

08/03/2020

In its latest onshore wind auction, Greece awarded 20-year contracts for more than 472 MW of wind projects, including one at a new record low price. The Greek developer Ascent Power submitted the lowest ever bid in a Greek onshore wind auction with €53.86/MWh. This bid continues the latest cost reduction trend: the previous record had been set in a wind energy tender earlier this year.

Resilient wind industry delivers 17% of Europe’s electricity, proves smart bet for Europe’s green recovery

07/31/2020

The new WindEurope publication “The Impact of COVID-19 on Europe’s wind sector” analyses how the ongoing pandemic affected new installations, auction schedules, financing and electricity production in the first half of 2020.

NECP analysis: permitting problems still a major stumbling block

07/27/2020

26 European countries have submitted their National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) to the EU. WindEurope has analysed what those plans entail for wind energy deployment in Europe. The main hurdle remains permitting – many NECPs do not set out effective solutions to existing permitting bottlenecks.

Working towards a European standard for decommissioning wind turbines

07/24/2020

European wind turbines manufacturers and suppliers sell their technologies on different markets across the EU. Harmonising national standards that apply to the decommissioning of wind turbines will be key to ensuring cost- and resource-efficient processes.

Wind energy is key to coal regions in transition and can support them cutting power sector emissions by half by 2030

07/15/2020

WindEurope recently participated in a panel discussion about the clean energy potential of coal regions in transition together with representatives from the European Commission, the Joint Research Centre, Bloomberg New Energy Finance and SolarPower Europe. The event was organised by the European Commission for the launch of the new Just Transition Platform.

NSEC Ministerial Meeting highlights the importance of European collaboration in future offshore wind development

07/07/2020

Yesterday’s Ministerial Meeting of the North Sea Energy Cooperation (NSEC)* reinforced the need for a European approach to future offshore wind development.

The German EU Presidency wants to strengthen offshore wind – here is what they need to do now

07/03/2020

Germany has taken over the rotating EU Council Presidency from Croatia. As part of the trio presidency, Germany will hold the position until 1 January 2021 before passing it on to Portugal. In the rather short time frame, the German Presidency aims to develop and adopt several important energy policies – with a strong focus on offshore wind.

Ireland forms historic new government – promising a “revolution” in renewables