2 October 2020
WindEurope Bulletin CEO Foreword on new chairmen and important event updates
CEO Foreword
We have a new Chairman! Please join me in congratulating MHI Vestas’ CEO Philippe Kavafyan in being elected Chair of WindEurope for the next 18 months. And EDF Renewables’ Nicolas Couderc who has been elected as our Vice Chair. On behalf of all the Association, can I also thank Gunnar Groebler for his outstanding service and commitment as our Chair for the past 18 months – and Nordex’s Tony Adam who was an excellent Vice Chair. They have done a lot of important work with us – and there’s a lot more still to do …
As you may have seen, the European Commission have now proposed that the EU should raise its greenhouse gas emissions reduction target to at least 55% by 2030 (compared to 1990). This is a significant increase from today’s 40% target. It would set the EU on a credible trajectory towards climate neutrality.
Two things on this. Of course, it is good news for our industry. Implementing this higher objective means more renewables and reinforcing the EU Emissions Trading System, so a higher CO2 price. Wind energy is competitive, scalable and our industry is ready to deliver on these new targets. That’s all fine.
But – and I cannot overstate this – higher targets are no good if existing barriers to wind energy remain. These targets remain purely academic if we cannot build wind farms because of short-sighted policy obstacles on the ground. Too many Member States are completely off-target when it comes to rules around permitting and repowering. This has got to change. When the EU issues its State of the Energy Union in mid-October, it will come with country-specific recommendations to all 27 Member States on improvements they should make to their National Energy and Climate Plans. These should go some way to addressing the policy bottlenecks our industry faces in permitting and repowering. But we cannot afford to be complacent on this. We will keep you up to date on all our work on this in the weeks and months ahead.
Our event in Hamburg, organised with Hamburg Messe und Congress (HMC), will now take place fully online, from 1-4 December. A new digital offer, that includes special packages for exhibitors, visitors as well as conference attendees will be communicated in the coming weeks. As part of the Hamburg event, WindEurope’s team has developed a new concept of a “WindTV” channel that will provide a new, user friendly concept, allowing people to learn and exchange expertise in a more creative and effective manner than a classical online event. We’ll cover permitting, community engagement, electrification, renewable hydrogen, technology and innovation, the wind energy supply chain and many other issues as part of the “WindTV” programme. Our Event Ambassadors, RWE, MHI Vestas and Vattenfall, were indispensable in putting this new concept together. Thank you!
Can I also remind you that the call for abstracts for Electric City, our event next year in Copenhagen, will close on 23 October. More on that below.
And don’t forget our next event, our online End-of-Life Issues & Strategies Seminar (EoLIS) on 19-20 November – covering the latest developments in repowering and lifetime extensions.
I wish you an enjoyable read.
Giles Dickson
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