Scale up, Electrify, Deliver

The pressure is on. The global political balance is in flux. Safeguarding Europe’s economic competitiveness in this new world order is at the top of everyone’s agenda.

But what’s holding us back? High energy costs are a huge burden on European businesses right now. Our strategic industries are struggling. And there’s growing concern about Europe’s security. Physical, cyber and economic threats are on the rise. From now on, it’s up to us to counter them on our own doorstep.

Enter wind energy. We’ve shown that wind is an affordable power source – bringing down bills for households and for industrial consumers. Energy intensive industries want more wind to help them electrify. But wind is also key to security. It’s a clean, homegrown alternative to imported fossil fuels that enhances our independence and resilience, bringing jobs and investment to communities across the continent.

More wind is key to enhancing Europe’s competitiveness. This is the challenge we face. And the solution is an obvious one, “scale up, electrify, and deliver”.

Scale-up:

Whether it’s a case of building more wind farms to meet our climate targets or ramping up our manufacturing capacity, we need to scale-up across the board. The more turbines we build, the more homegrown energy we can provide, the lower the costs, and the more jobs and investment that will flow from it.

Electrify:

Major sectors of our economy will see a significant increase in electricity demand over the next 15 years. But our rate of electrification has been stagnating, while China has pulled ahead significantly. The message is clear – electrification is key to competitiveness. And wind is uniquely placed to deliver it.

Deliver:

We know what our targets are. Now we need to build a framework where our industry can thrive. Crafting a strong business case for wind energy. Getting auction design right. Implementing the good EU rules on permitting – along the lines of Germany. And delivering more robust system planning.

These are our overarching goals. But what steps can we take right now to get the ball rolling?

We’ve identified three easy actions that Governments can take immediately to put wind at the heart of Europe’s competitiveness – the Copenhagen Call to Action. These are simple measures that would make a huge difference – to get to net-zero, but also to shore up our security and autonomy in a changing world.

You can read the full Call to Action here. And remember to tune into the Ministerial Session on Tuesday 8 April as we discuss this in more detail with policymakers and industry leaders.