Arthouros Zervos, EWEA president,
speaking at EWEC 2009.
MARSEILLE, FR - European companies have
two thirds of the 35 billion global market for wind
power technology. Wind energy is Europe’s contribution
to peace, progress and prosperity and we should
urgently develop, promote and export it to the best of
our ability.
EWEA has increased its 2020 target for installed
wind energy capacity in the EU from 180 GW to 230
GW, including 40 GW offshore. The agreement on
the EU Renewable Energy Directive in December
2008 and its mandatory 2020 renewables targets for
the Member States have increased our optimism for
the sector’s outlook. We have therefore increased our
targets. However, these targets will only be met if all
the Member States implement the directive swiftly
and effectively.
Previously, EWEA’s target was set at 180 GW of installed capacity in the EU by 2020, including
35 GW offshore. The new 230 GW target
would produce approximately 600 TWh
per year in the EU by 2020, power equivalent
to the needs of 135 million average EU
households (60% of EU households) and
meeting between 14 and 18% of EU electricity
demand (depending on total demand in
2020).
Keynote speakers from the opening
session on March 16th spoke of the new
energy and economic era. Mechtild Rothe,
Vice President of the European Parliament,
said that wind energy can make a real difference
to employment and economies. "Wind energy is an excellent example of
how to intelligently invest in a future-orientated
sustainable economy getting thousands
of people into jobs,” she said.
“Especially in these times of uncertainty it
is very important that the European wind
energy industry has created more than
60,000 new jobs over the past five years.
These are not mere statistics - this is the
competitive strength of Europe. Wind energy
has definitely become a driving force of
our economies. We have learned from the
current crisis that we should not wait until
the problems are there before we act – we
need to invest in wind energy now."
Nobuo Tanaka, Executive Director,
International Energy Agency (IEA),
focused on the environmental benefits of
wind energy, saying that it “has an important
role to play in climate change mitigation”
but to tap into wind’s full potential “we
need effective national policies and a strong
international framework. We need to reinforce,
expand and link up our transmission
networks.” Tanaka went on to stress the
importance of focusing economic recovery
plans on green investments for a short-term
stimulus and long-term benefits.
Roland Sundén, CEO of LM Glasfiber
and Chair of EWEC 2009 said that “in 2008,
more wind was installed in the EU than any
other power generating technology. The
track record of wind is the most visible
proof that it creates great value. And as the
financial and economic crisis deepens, this
becomes especially relevant, and that relevance
creates a historic window of opportunity
for everybody who is committed to
combating climate change, to supporting
technological leadership and to creating
new competitive exports and jobs.”
André Antolini, President of the
French Renewable Energy Association
(SER) cited France as a specific example of
the difference wind can make to the economy.
He said that “in France there are now
over 130 companies that produce components
for - or offer services to - the wind
energy sector. Wind energy helps industry
and the economy.”
Chantal Jouanno, French Secretary of
State for ecology, reminded delegates that "the world has no choice but to enter a new energy era, which is essential for our energy
autonomy and in order to maintain our
country's wealth. The French energy evolution
has already begun, and it must now
start moving faster. We need to multiply our
wind farms to reach 20,000 MW by 2020."
Moving on to discuss the role of wind energy,
Jouanno specified that "wind is one of
the most competitive and promising forms
of power, and it is nearly at market price.
Wind energy will provide between one
quarter and one third of France's total
renewable energy target and it is essential
that we support the wind sector."
‘It is imperative that EU heads of state
pass the European Commission’s recovery
plan at the spring summit. The plan must
prioritize the technologies of tomorrow and
ensure a green recovery, otherwise the
stimulus will fail’, warned Christian Kjaer,
EWEA Chief Executive. The ε565 million
that the plan dedicates to finance offshore
wind will create jobs, provide new R&D
opportunities to make the power sector
more efficient and less expensive, improve
operations and maintenance, and speed up
market deployment.
RECOVERY PLAN
The proposed EU economic recovery
plan currently sets aside ε3,900 billion for
energy projects including over ε890million
for key strategic interconnections in the
power grid. The ε565 million for offshore
wind includes the initiation of the first stage
of a North Sea offshore grid. These measures
will help unlock the largest European
indigenous energy resource and stimulate
Europe’s lagging economies.
Indeed, the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) recently
recommended that one third of the around
$2.5 trillion-worth of planned stimulus packages
worldwide should be used to 'green’
the world economy, as this would help
“power the global economy out of recession”.
The national recovery plans of the
European countries do not even come
close.
NEW POWER GRID
If the EU is to meet its CO2 reduction
and renewables targets, improve security of
supply and create real competition in the
European power market, we need to extend
our power grids and change the way we
operate them.
An extended grid with changed operating
procedures is necessary to rejuvenate
the EU’s power system, and will help
reduce its operational costs whether more
wind is added or not. An upgraded grid
would, however, also allow larger amounts
of wind onto the system. As such, it would
go a long way in helping the EU meet its
2020 targets, reduce CO2 emissions and
ultimately make electricity more affordable
for consumers.
At current fuel prices, electricity production
costs from a new wind farm, coal
plant and gas station are more or less the same. If a truly interconnected European
grid existed and power markets were effective,
the uncertainty of volatile carbon and
fuel prices would ensure that wind, which
avoids these unknown quantities, would
become the most cost-effective of the three.
We need the power markets to work to
ensure that future investors are fully
exposed to fuel and carbon price risk.
Moreover, EU power markets currently
remain biased towards traditional
fuels because they are dominated by vertically-
integrated power companies. The
European Commission’s third liberalisation
package, currently being negotiated by the
European Parliament and Council, aims to
open markets up more by at least partially
separating production and transmission
activities.For a truly competitive market,
the full ownership unbundling of the vertically-
integrated power companies is necessary.
In the new Renewable Energy
Directive, electricity from renewable
sources has been guaranteed priority dispatch
and priority access to the grid. In the
absence of full unbundling, priority access
and dispatch are both extremely important
for the sector. However, there are still
issues such as bottlenecks (where parts of
the grid are used to their full capacity)
which restrict access to cheaper generation
resources such as wind power.
There is now a total of 65 GW of wind
power in the EU, which will, in a normal
wind year, produce 142 TWh of electricity,
equal to about 4.2% of the EU’s electricity
demand. Wind energy is fuel free and so
avoids volatile fuel and carbon costs. In
2008, while the oil price shot up to ε147 and
came unsteadily down again, wind power
avoided fuel costs of ε5.4 billion and CO2
costs of ε2.4 billion. Furthermore, increasing
the use of wind diminishes our reliance
on fuel imports from unstable regions - currently,
Europe imports 54% of its energy,
and this is set to grow to 70% by 2030. The
money pouring out of Europe to satisfy our
thirst for fuels must instead be invested in
indigenous and infinite power sources.
The EU has a leadership position in
renewable energy. By consolidating its
expertise, it can provide technology exports
to other countries, boosting its global
stand¬ing and economy. In 2007, EU manufacturers
installed 66% of new turbines globally.
A wind turbine emits no CO2 or other
pollutants, and over its 20-year life it will
produce 80-120 times more en¬ergy than it
consumes. Europe’s wind energy avoided
the emission of 108 million tonnes of C02 in
2008 – equal to 31% of the EU-15’s Kyoto
obligations and the equivalent of taking
more than 50 million cars off the roads.
These figures demonstrate why wind
is the first choice when it comes to new
power installations, and why the sector has
cause to celebrate at events such as EWEC.
EWEA’s new 230 GW target for 2020 is one
more example of the industry’s confidence
and the growing recognition of what wind
power can offer European citizens.
The sector is a significant creator of jobs – especially important at a time of such
economic and financial instability. Between
2002 and 2007, direct employment in the
sector increased by 125% - an average of 33
new jobs every day, seven days a week in
Europe. The European wind energy sector
employed 160,000 people directly and indirectly
in 2008.
EWEC 2009 had over 7,500 participants,
1,900 delegates and 5,600 exhibition
visitors. The exhibition featured 390 companies,
making it three times bigger than
EWEC 2008 in Brussels. EWEC 2010 will be
held in Warsaw, Poland from April 20 to 23.