25 May 2023
WindEurope’s position paper on the Electricity Market Design targeted reform
The EU just raised its Renewable Energy target by 2030, from 32.5% to 42.5%. For wind, this means doubling the annual rate of development, to 31 GW p.a. However, all wind energy indicators were flashing red in 2022: Europe only invested €17bn in new wind in 2022, down from €41bn in 2021, and the lowest since 2009; Final Investment Decisions were taken for only 10 GW and not a single one in commercial scale offshore windfarm; Turbine orders were down 47% year on year.
The co-legislators must urgently restore certainty for renewables in Europe.
The European wind industry supports the targeted approach proposed by the European Commission. Because it strikes the right balance on the regulatory framework necessary to make investments happen, namely:
- It allows investors to use all contractual forms for power supply generation: Contracts-for-Difference, Power Purchase Agreements, merchant investments.
- It removes national revenue caps for inframarginal generators thus acknowledging their pure emergency nature, and pre-empting further disruption to market signals.
- It doesn’t allow retroactive changes to support mechanisms for renewable energy investors, in line with the EU Renewable Energy Directive.
