European Commission Proposal for a Directive on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources

Randers, 23 January 2008. On 23 January 2008, the European Commission has published a Proposal for a Directive on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources for the 27 European Member States. The proposal aims to establish an overall binding target of a 20 per cent share of renewable energy sources in energy consumption and binding national targets by 2020 in line with the overall EU target.

“At Vestas, we are particularly glad to see the clear definition of what is renewable energy and, specially, what is not renewable energy,” emphasizes Ditlev Engel, President and CEO of Vestas Wind Systems A/S.

“If implemented, this directive will be a major contribution to reaching the 20 per cent renewables target in 2020. With wind power’s value proposition for society, we believe that our technology will become an even more attractive solution for many European Member States to fulfil their national targets,” concludes Ditlev Engel.

Besides the clear definition of renewable energy, some of the main contributions of the Commission’s proposal are the following:

1. If implemented, it can provide stable and predictable support schemes to promote the needed investments in clean renewable energy technologies, such as wind power as modern energy. The suggested approach of maintaining well-known and effective national support schemes and a gradual implementation of a voluntary trading mechanism could secure this important and needed investment stability for the coming years.

2. It can increase transparency and provide investors and the industry with a clear indication of the wind market developments in all countries through the development of national action plans and the ongoing reporting to the EU Commission. This is particular important for a company like Vestas which has more than 20 production facilities in Europe.

3. It can help to overcome many of the barriers for the development of clean wind power technology in Europe in connection with the development of grid connection and the improvement of the national planning processes.

If the EU Directive is approved and implemented by the 27 Member States and the European Parliament, the European wind power industry will have the most advanced renewables regulatory framework in the world. This will of course be necessary if Europe is to lead the way with modern energy helping reduce energy dependency and climate change.

For further comments, please contact Peter Brun, Senior Vice President f Vestas’ Group Government Relations on telephone +45 4160 6102.

Yours sincerely
Vestas Wind Systems A/S

Peter Brun, Senior Vice President, Group Government Relations