News
March 2026
30 March 2026
A message from the new CEO
Dear WindEurope member,
Europe is once again under energy pressure – but this crisis is not a one-off.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz and disruption to fossil fuel supplies has reinforced a reality we already know: dependence on imported fuels undermines Europe’s economy and leaves us exposed to geopolitical crises. Prices rise overnight. And our industries and households pay the bill.
But this moment also underlines a salient point. Home-grown electricity is the only future-proof strategy we have. Our security quite literally depends on it. Every new wind farm strengthens Europe’s resilience, reduces exposure to external shocks and brings more stable, affordable power to European businesses and citizens.
Some European countries are starting to wake up to this reality and are now fast-tracking wind. In direct response to the crisis, Germany have just announced that they’re increasing their onshore wind auction volumes by an extra 12 GW up to 2030. And the UK are bringing forward their major offshore wind auction to July this year. These decisions strengthen resilience, price stability, and geopolitical security. Other countries should follow suit.
And when it comes to our industry, we know we are up to the task. We’ve seen €15bn invested across the value chain in recent years. We know where we stand: we have the investment, the tech and the project pipeline to deliver at scale. What we need now is speed and certainty: accelerated auctions with predictable wind volumes, faster permitting, grids built at pace, and a stronger push on electrification so we can fully underpin Europe’s energy system.
That’s why coming together with policymakers to set this in motion is more important than ever.
From 21–23 April, WindEurope’s Annual Event in Madrid will bring industry leaders and policymakers together to focus on delivery. European Commission EVP Teresa Ribera and Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen will join us, and national ministers from around Europe. The discussion will centre on what needs to change – and how wind and renewables can provide a durable answer to Europe’s energy and security challenges. You can register for it here.
Europe can’t afford to sleepwalk into another crisis. But we’ve always moved past them by acting together.
This year’s Annual Event is about turning urgency into action – ensuring wind plays its full role in delivering a Europe that is prosperous, secure and globally competitive.
I look forward to meeting many of you in Madrid next month.
Kind regards,
Tinne Van der Straeten
WindEurope Annual Event 2026 – See you in three weeks!
Europe’s wind industry is coming to Madrid on 21–23 April – will you be there too?
Join 16,000+ attendees and hear from 400+ speakers across 80+ sessions, including:
- Teresa Ribera, First Executive Vice-President of the European Commission
- Dan Jørgensen, European Commissioner for Energy and Housing
- Sara Aagesen, Third Deputy Prime Minister of Spain
- Energy Ministers and State Secretaries from Ireland, Germany, the UK, Belgium, Norway (with more expected)
- CEOs and senior leaders from the global wind industry, electricity networks and major industrial consumers.
Over three days, we’ll dive into Europe’s most urgent energy challenges – from system costs, security and electrification to grids, permitting, auction design, trade, sustainability, circularity, floating wind and community engagement.
Beyond the conference, you’ll see the entire industry on show under one roof with:
- 600+ exhibitors from the whole value chain;
- 400+ posters featuring the latest industry insights; and
- Dozens of social and side events – with good Spanish food and drink.
Whether you’re there to debate, learn or to do business, we hope you can join us to put our industry on the map – and help us deliver a greener, competitive future for Europe.
What do we do with old wind turbine blades?
Sustainability has always been part of wind energy’s DNA. Our turbines have near-zero water consumption, minimal environmental footprint, and a short energy payback time.
Today, around 90% of a turbine’s mass is recyclable. But we need to go even further. We’ve committed to a Europe-wide landfill ban on decommissioned wind turbine blades – making sure they’re reused, repurposed, recycled, or recovered within Europe. And we’re not just talking about it – we’re making it happen.
The WE team has visited pioneering companies turning this vision into a reality:
- Recyclers giving a second life to old blades;
- Refurbishers putting turbines back on the second-hand market; and
- Designers and innovators transforming blades into urban furniture and creative new objects.
The message is clear: turbine blades can have a sustainable end-of-life – and it’s happening today.
Take a look at our Circularity page on the WindEurope website. It’s a one-stop space looking at our industry’s progress. Get in touch with us here to share your stories too!
Members’ Successes
Vind AI launches new Solar & Battery product for designing and optimising co-located onshore wind parks
Vind AI, a global digital platform for onshore and offshore wind assessment and design, launches a new product on its platform: Solar & Battery. This addition enables developers to assess and design co-located wind, solar and battery projects faster and smarter by evaluating them as a single system.
Vind AI Solar & Battery is the very first solution for collaboration across wind, solar and battery projects. This is a game-changer for developers because it provides a platform where engineers, project managers, finance and development leadership can work together on assessments, design choices, and financial analysis for individual projects, as well as tracking, comparing, and prioritising projects across their whole portfolio.
Global wind developers, including Iberdrola, TotalEnergies, EDF Renewables, EnBW, and Tokyo Gas, already trust Vind AI’s platform for their wind projects.
Optimising projects with co-location
Vind AI Solar & Battery is a new product for use in tandem with Vind AI Onshore Wind to plan and design co-located projects. The new offering is a response to developers reporting that traditional ways of working, with fragmented analysis of each technology followed by late-stage integration, deliver poor results. Integrated Solar & Battery helps developers make more data-driven decisions on wind-solar-battery ratios and provides an early-stage understanding of yield in hybrid parks. It also allows solar and battery experts to work collaboratively with wind experts to better understand how wind, solar, and storage interact and the effects on key project metrics such as LCoE and IRR.
“Solar and Battery is a response to what we’ve been hearing from wind developers: They are missing the tools to create robust designs and business cases for hybrid parks,” says Helene Bøhler, CEO of Vind AI. “The analysis required to optimise a co-located system of wind, solar and battery is complex, and developers’ traditional ways of working simply fail to cope with that level of complexity.”
Digitalisation of renewable energy
“By integrating wind teams with solar and battery experts and equipping them with the latest digital tools, we aim to unlock a new wave of co-located projects, which hold huge potential to add renewable energy capacity at scale,” states Bøhler.
Solar & Battery offering
Solar & Battery is currently available only to a closed group of Vind AI partners. Developers seeking early-access in Q2 2026 can join the waitlist to gain priority entry. Key features include: co-location design, solar-to-wind ratio, battery sizing optimisation, co-location business case assessment, grid constraints and curtailments and more.
Member Interview: VALOREM Group
This month, we spoke with Corentin Sivy, CEO of VALOREM Group, about the company’s growth across Europe, their goal to enhance in energy sovereignty and electrification, and the policy and industrial changes needed to scale renewables.
Read interview
Webinars
European Investment Bank (EIB) counter-guarantees and lending for the wind sector
On 31 March we’re hosting a members-only webinar on the financial instruments the European Investment Bank (EIB) offers to the wind sector.
At this webinar our partners at the EIB will guide you through their main offering of financial support for wind energy projects and how the industry can benefit from it. We’ll focus on the counter-guarantees for equipment manufacturers and lending offering. And we will discuss how this offering is tailored to match the needs of the wind sector, including offshore and onshore wind project developers, port infrastructure, and supply chain.
The EIB team will also join us in Madrid at the WindEurope Annual Event on 21-23 April. Join the webinar and find out how you can connect with them there in person.
Register hereOther WindEurope events
WindEurope Technology Workshop – Programme live!
WindEurope Technology Workshop – Programme live! WindEurope’s Technology Workshop, the wind industry’s seminar on resource assessment and analysis of operating wind farms is back from 11-12 June. And this year we’re in Rotterdam, Europe’s largest port and a key hub for wind manufacturing, logistics and maintenance.
We’ve just released the programme overview for the event – 18 sessions looking at a range of technical industry issues – LiDARs, wind farm control, modelling, wakes, curtailment, forecasting and turbine lifetimes.
Registration opens next week! And you can check out the programme here. Stay tuned and we’ll see you in June!
PS. Don’t miss out on industry-wide visibility! Check out our final sponsorship options here.
