TACKLING EUROPE’S ENERGY CRISIS: WIND ENERGY, THE “NO FUEL SOLUTION”

Brussels, February 23rd 2006---”Wind. Power without Fuel” - This is the main message of a report released today by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA): “Europe’s energy crisis: the No Fuel Solution” (1). The report is part of a broader campaign and outlines how wind can meet over one fifth of European energy needs, eliminate the economic risks of volatile and uncertain fuel prices, and provide an indigenous and practical solution to the current European energy crisis.

EWEA also unveiled full-page advertising campaigns in The Economist and the European Voice (2), two days before 2,000 delegates gather from the global wind sector for the annual European conference in Athens (3).

“Europe has a worsening addiction to imported oil and gas, we are running out of resources, prices are rising, energy sources are becoming more volatile and demand is increasing”, said Arthouros Zervos, President of EWEA. “Wind energy essentially eliminates these types of risks that exist with conventional fuels, because it delivers power without fuel - this means no geopolitical risk, no energy imports and dependence, no fuel costs and no fuel price risk”.

“Europe has a growing fuel supply problem, so it makes perfect sense to build power stations that need no fuel at all”, Zervos said.

The adverts and report detail the main attributes of ‘Power without Fuel’. The briefing shows that less than doubling the number of turbines currently installed in Europe would provide 11 times more electricity - and deliver over one fifth of European power needs by 2030, even with a 50% increase in demand by then (4).

“In the current energy crisis, it is often overlooked that Europe is the world leader in wind energy and we are wealthy in wind resources – there is enough wind to power the entire continent, and it will never run out”, said Zervos.

Unlike conventional fuels, wind energy is a massive indigenous source permanently available. Wind power stations can be constructed and deliver power far quicker than conventional sources. The technology has progressed immensely to the point where today, a single modern turbine annually produces 180 times more electricity that its equivalent 20 years ago.

“Wind technology is no longer a fringe solution, it can make a major contribution to European energy in the same order of magnitude as coal, gas or nuclear”, said Zervos.

Notes to Editors:

(1) Europe’s Energy Crisis - The No Fuel Solution, EWEA briefing February 2006, can be downloaded at www.no-fuel.org :

no geo-political risk
no external energy dependence
no energy imports
no fuel costs
no fuel price risk
no exploration
no extraction
no refining
no pipelines
no resource constraints
no CO2 emissions

(2) The adverts in the Economist and the European Voice can be downloaded at www.no-fuel.org

(3) The 2006 European Wind Energy Conference and Exhibition will host over 500 oral and poster presentations, 150 companies exhibiting and an expected 2,000 attendees. www.ewec.info

(4) Across Europe, around 47,000 wind turbines installed at the end of 2005 provide 2.8% of Europe’s power needs. By 2030, 90,000 turbines would be delivering 23%.