There’s no competitiveness without accelerated electrification

Today European industry and EU leaders gather in Antwerp to address how best to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness. Affordable energy will be at the core of their discussions. Wind will play a key role here. But the missing link is electrification: heavy industry needs to rapidly electrify, and Governments need to help make that happen. They need to de-risk investments in electrified production processes and help align supply and demand.

“Wind is a strong partner for Europe’s industry and an integral part of the solution to Europe’s competitiveness problem. We can help deliver the large amounts of competitive electricity both industry and Europe urgently need. But there’s no competitiveness without accelerated electrification. Together with the EU and national Governments we now need to agree on targeted measures to align electricity supply and industrial demand”, says WindEurope CEO Tinne Van der Straeten.

Onshore and offshore wind can deliver at scale

Wind is already one of the cheapest ways to generate electricity in Europe. Once Governments remove existing barriers to
wind energy development, the wind industry can quickly deliver the power Europe needs – all while strengthening Europe’s
energy security and keeping prices predictable.

Take Germany: the Government was serious about removing barriers to onshore wind. They ruthlessly implemented the accelerated permitting procedures laid out in the EU Emergency Regulations and the revised Renewable Energy Directive. As a result, German onshore wind is going from strength to strength. Last year they permitted more than 20 GW. That’s more onshore wind than all European countries combined built in 2025. Over the same period, Germany auctioned more than 14 GW – with healthy oversubscriptions and falling prices across their four auction rounds. That’s more onshore wind capacity than Germany installed over the six years 2019-2024.

The same is true for offshore wind. With the right auction design and de-risking tools in place, offshore wind can generate the vast volumes of renewable energy Europe’s companies need – at highly competitive prices.

Take the UK. The latest Contract-for-Difference auctions delivered 8.4 GW of new offshore wind. And just two weeks ago, at the North Sea Summit in Hamburg Heads of State and Government and Energy Ministers pledged to chart a massive offshore wind buildout for Europe – with Contracts for Difference, which derisk offshore wind investments. In exchange the wind industry pledged to reduce the costs of offshore wind by 30% towards 2040 compared to 2025 levels.

More needs to happen on direct electrification

The EU now needs to find ways to make this electricity available to industry. The missing link here is direct electrification.

Industry wants to electrify with wind and solar. But they need political support. In the meantime, Europe is falling behind: electrification rates in Europe are stagnating at 25%, while competitors like China are surging ahead.

Europe needs targeted measures to match electricity supply and demand and de-risk crucial investments in direct electrification. It also needs to ensure that industry can procure wind energy at competitive prices. The European Commission should take the lead here by publishing its EU guidance on electricity taxation. Then it’s on national Governments to reduce taxes and levies on electricity in order to incentivise investments in electrified industrial processes.