Wind energy

Every year hundreds of organisations and individuals in over 30 countries take part in the EU Sustainable Energy week by hosting Energy Day events and activities that promote energy efficiency and renewable energy sources.

Two new statistical reports published by the European Wind Energy Association take a close look at the state of wind energy in Europe in 2011. The latest figures published in February by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) show a levelling off in the rate of new wind power installations in the EU compared to recent years, although wind continues to increase its share of the EU’s power generation capacity.

Last week a European Parliament committee approved an EU Roadmap to a low-carbon economy, which seeks to go beyond current carbon dioxide reduction targets.

Materials are at the core of industrial innovation and enable it. The materials presented in this new Roadmap complement and expand the technology roadmaps developed in the context of the SET-Plan as the basis for its implementation. It puts forward key materials research and innovation activities to advance energy technologies for the next 10 years.

Earlier this month Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn announced Horizon 2020, an EUR 80 billion programme to help achieve Europe's 2020 targets, which includes a package of measures to boost research, innovation and competitiveness in Europe.

The Warsaw conference on the European Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan) began on 28th November - the same day as the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, at which representatives of the world’s largest economies are discussing the future of limiting the world emission of carbon dioxide.

The 'Renewable Energy Snapshots' are based on various data providers, including grey data sources, and try to give an overview about the latest developments and trends in different renewable energy technologies.

A new report by the Joint Research Centre focuses on installed capacity and market share of European and worldwide wind energy installations.

With offshore wind energy set to play an increasing part in meeting the EU’s targets for renewable energy generation, it has become critical to overhaul Europe’s grid infrastructure to make optimal use of this input.

On 1st July 2011, the Commission launched a new European Energy Efficiency Fund (EEE-F) as part of the European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR).

Global Wind Day is a worldwide event that occurs annually on 15 June. Its purpose is to promote wind energy and its contribution to the global low-carbon energy mix. Wind energy contributes in more than 75 countries and on Global Wind Day thousands of public events are organised throughout Europe and the world.

The Clean Energy Solutions Center is an American (Washington D.C.)-based initiative of the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM). The Center was launched in 2010 to assist partners and partner countries with designing and implementing clean energy policies and deployment programmes.

In a communiqué issued on 18th March 2011, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) calls on the European Union to consider the security of its energy supply as one of the priorities of its external policy. The recommendation is one of the results of an Opinion on energy supply and neighbourhood policy commissioned by the current Hungarian EU presidency.

The European Wind Energy Technology Platform (TPWind) recently launched its TOP Wind (Technology platform Operational Programme Wind) project, with funding from the European Commission through the 7th Framework Programme.

EurObserv’ER has released the annual publication ‘The State of Renewable Energies in Europe’, a synthesis of the Technology Barometers published during 2010 (with data up to and including 2009).

According to a report published in January by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), offshore wind power experienced record growth in Europe in 2010, with installed capacity up 51% on 2009.

According to the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC), 25 out of the 27 National Renewable Energy Action Plans submitted to the European Commission expect to reach or exceed their 2020 targets domestically.

The Belgian presidency and the European Commission organised the European Strategic Energy Technology Plan Conference 2010. More than 500 stakeholders from industry and research institutes and European and national policymakers from across Europe gathered in Brussels for the fourth edition of the SET-Plan conference. The main objectives were the launch of the next two European Industrial Initiatives: Bioenergy and Sustainable Nuclear Energy, and the kick-off of the international cooperation dimension within the SET-Plan.

In June 2010 Henrik Bindslev, Director of the Danish National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy (Risø DTU), was named chairman of the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA), replacing Ton Hoff (ECN). Here, Mr Bindlev outlines how he sees the development of the EERA and how alternative energy technologies are emerging faster than anticipated.

Projects designed to improve energy efficiency could receive up to EUR 115 million in EU funds that would otherwise go unspent following the European Parliament’s approval of European Commission proposals for further funding under the European Energy Recovery Programme (EERP).

118 new offshore wind turbines were fully connected to the grid during the first half of 2010, according to recent statistics by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA).

The ‘Renewable Energy Snapshots’ report, published in July 2010 by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), shows that renewable energy sources accounted for 62%, or 17GW, of the new electricity generation capacity installed in the EU27 in 2009. This is up from 57% in 2008.

The European Wind Initiative (EWI) is the high-tech roadmap to reduce the cost of wind energy.

The European Technology Platform for Wind Energy (TPWind) will soon increase its role in policy lobbying. The Platform has historically focussed on R&D issues; however, with the launch of the SET-Plan, it now aims to take a more active role in EU wind policy.

Under the current state of the market progress and strong political support, the European renewable energy industry is convinced it can reach and exceed the 20% renewable energy share in final energy consumption by 2020.

Despite the effects of the global economic crisis, investment in low-carbon technologies has remained comparatively stable in recent years. The crisis has, however, reinforced the importance of the financial impetus needed to bring low-carbon energy technologies on stream. Financing the development and installation of low-carbon energy is currently a political priority, but increased investment for these energy technologies is needed at both EU and international levels.

Nicholas Fichaux, head of the policy analysis unit of the European Wind Energy Association, speaks about how wind energy will move the EU toward a low-carbon economy, obstacles to developing wind energy, and how the SET-Plan can help Europe meet its 2020 targets.