WindEurope Bulletin
WindEurope Bulletin April 2021
1 April 2021
CEO Foreword
Our newly approved WindEurope narrative is now online – see it here. This is the script we use to outline wind’s contribution to society, and the policies Europe needs for wind to become the backbone of a climate neutral energy system. I encourage you to use this common hymn sheet when you engage policymakers and stakeholders.
We updated the narrative to reflect key developments: the new 55% climate target for 2030, the need to work closely with industrial and other energy consumers, and the big role wind can play in EU recovery. 30 April marks the deadline for EU Member States to submit their National Recovery & Resilience Plans to the European Commission. 37% of the €673bn Recovery and Resilience Facility must go to climate-related spending, but we need to make sure that specific instruments in these plans will go to the right infrastructure including electricity grids and ports, to wind R&D, and to staff permitting authorities to help accelerate wind deployment.
We’ll release our annual Finance trends report on 13 April, with a webinar to follow on 14 April examining it further. A quick round up of the figures – Europe invested €42.8bn in new wind farms in 2020, the second highest figure on record and 70% up on 2019. €26.3bn went on offshore wind – a new record – but only €16.5bn to onshore, the lowest since 2017. The investments cover 19.6 GW of new capacity – 7.1 GW for offshore and 12.5 GW for onshore. It’s clear that finance isn’t our biggest concern. We need to see more projects, and for that we need to accelerate permitting, ease corporate PPAs, and boost the uptake of renewable hydrogen.
The European Commission’s “Fit for 55” package must help facilitate these policy improvements. The Renewable Energy Directive (RED) is up for revision and we expect the European Commission to table a renewable energy target of 38-40%. But raising the target is useless unless the we have the measures to deliver this goal. See our position on the package here. Along with our proposals for the Renewable Energy Directive, it sets out our position on the reform of the Emissions Trading System and on the new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.
We’ll be hosting two Sofa Talks to shed further light on the “Fit for 55” package – the first looking at reshaping the ETS (22 April), and the second on the RED revision (12 May). Further details and registration links below – be sure to join if you can!
At the national level we were disappointed with the latest amendment of Germany’s Renewable Energy Law (EEG2021). And we’ve published a letter addressed to the German Government on behalf of WindEurope and the German National Associations and companies, laying out six key steps to correct the existing framework and eliminate bottlenecks to onshore wind development. Our immediate concern is that the legislation still needs a green light from the European Commission Competition authorities. This holds up auction results which disrupts the full supply chain. We’ve alerted the Commission and are working closely with German industry to clarify this.
Finally, the end of March also saw Member States finalise their National Maritime Spatial Plans. As offshore wind continues to grow, these plans will facilitate vital cooperation with fishing, shipping, defence, and other parties affected by maritime planning. WindEurope has been working with National Associations, National Governments and the European Commission, to stress the importance of these plans reflecting the EU’s ambition to have 300 GW of offshore wind by 2050. We’ll keep you updated on how this progresses.
I wish you an enjoyable read,
Kind regards,
Giles Dickson
Policy News
Setting the course towards climate neutrality – WindEurope position on the “Fit for 55” package
The European Green Deal requires an acceleration of the rate of expansion of onshore and offshore wind. A 25-fold increase in offshore wind capacity and an even bigger increase in GW in onshore wind capacity.
Member States have now agreed to ratchet up the EU 2030 greenhouse gas emission target from 40% to at least 55% to deliver the Green Deal. This will trigger an upward revision of the EU’s 2030 renewable energy target from 32% today to 38%-40% according to the European Commission’s Impact Assessment.
This means the EU wind energy capacity would need to be 433-452 GW by 2030 (361-374 GW onshore and 73-79 GW offshore) for 38% and 40% targets respectively. This is almost a threefold increase on the 179 GW installed today. And 90 GW more than what the EU-27 pledged in their 2030 National Energy & Climate Plans.
The EU built 10.5 GW of new wind energy capacity in 2020 and is expected to install 15 GW per year in the period 2021-2025. The EU needs to build 18 GW per year over 2021-30 to deliver the existing 2030 EU renewable energy target and 27 GW per year to deliver the higher target foreseen by a 55% greenhouse gas emission reduction by 2030.
The benefits of an accelerated buildout will be significant. The EU wind energy sector supports 300,000 jobs, generates €37bn to EU GDP and €5bn in local taxes pa. It operates 248 factories across the EU. Each new wind turbine installed in Europe contributes €10m of economic activity. Onshore and offshore wind are the most cost-competitive sources of new power generation in most of Europe.
But current policies will not deliver these numbers – neither the volumes, nor the economic benefits. Higher targets are necessary but not sufficient. Europe needs stronger delivery, monitoring, and enforcement measures to ensure 2030 is a steppingstone towards a climate neutral energy system.
Our position paper sets out WindEurope’s priorities for the EU’s “Fit for 55” legislative package.
Monthly Advocacy Report
What policies are being cooked up in Brussels? How will they affect your business? What is the power play between the EU institutions? Who’s WindEurope speaking to when shaping policies? What have we been communicating as an industry to different stakeholders? How can I get involved in meetings?
For answers to these questions, look no further than WindEurope’s Advocacy Report. This is our monthly compilation of the latest intelligence from Brussels on all the topics we cover for the wind industry. Together with all the position papers and reports we’ve developed both with you and for you. And a recap of all the policymakers and stakeholders we’ve met to pass on our industry’s policy priorities.
Product news
Position Paper – Making wind farms and the power system more interoperable: Focus on data exchange
© 50hertz
This position paper looks into current data exchange obligations and practices between wind farms and System Operators across Europe, the ongoing implementation of the relevant regulation (Key Organisational Requirements, Roles and Responsibilities (KORRR) relating to Data Exchange, System Operations Guideline) and the wide use of recommended standards. The KORRR methodology leaves a lot of flexibility to National Authorities for the implementation of rules, which is helpful for addressing system specific needs.
However, at this implementation stage much stronger harmonisation efforts and technical guidance are needed at an EU level to ensure a cost-effective management of the energy system, to enable interoperability and flexibility and to account for legacy systems in operation.
What we’ve been reading
Dentons’ Guide 2021
Dentons’ 2021 guide on Investing in Renewable Energy Technologies in Europe has been published and is now available online. Giving a detailed rundown of legal, policy and commercial initiatives across the European renewables sector over the past year, the guide considers both EU and national policy developments, the effects of Brexit and COVID-19, and the emergence of hydrogen in renewables policymaking.
Download the 2021 edition of the guide for snapshots of the industry across 21 jurisdictions in Europe and Central Asia.
Dentons has produced this guide in cooperation with BloombergNEF, a leading provider of primary research on clean energy, advanced transport, digital industry, innovative materials, and commodities.
Members’ Successes
Why automation is the future of the wind industry (Green Eagle Solutions)
The technological company Green Eagle Solutions has recently launched ARSOS Software, an intelligent system that monitors and automatically controls renewable energy plants. This software is helping RWE’s Iberian Remote Operations Center to scale up their operations while keeping costs low.
As the world strives to meet goals to slash carbon emissions, installations of renewable energy are growing exponentially. According to WindEurope, over 320 GW of wind are predicted to be generating energy in Europe by 2030.
However, this surge in capacity is already starting to leave remote operations centers (ROCs) struggling to cope with the number of assets and the increasing variety of wind turbine technologies that they have to monitor and control. When a problem occurs, operators must check the error code and identify an action (remote reset or field technician notification) to be done in accordance with the operations protocol. It is frequently a complex and time-consuming process that takes on average 15-30 minutes. This may not sound like a long time, but in a portfolio of 1,000 turbines, this could mean hundreds of hours of aggregated unavailability energy production losses, and as a consequence, thousands of euros of revenue losses.
How does the automation system work?
Green Eagle Solutions has constructed a software logic engine that may be hosted in the cloud or onsite, depending on client requirements. This software undertakes the same process that a human would as soon as a problem happens.
Firstly, the existing client’s operational protocols are automated and then a new scenario of multiple possibilities is opened. The client is enabled to implement customised operations protocols taking into account specific conditions for each wind farm and their operational issues. In this way, the system can also be programmed to take into account specific maintenance strategies down to the level of an individual turbine. For example, a turbine in poor condition could be operated in a more conservative way to protect it from high wind speeds or turbulence to extend its operating lifetime.
In short, the software allows ROCs to operate ten times as many turbines per ROC operator, enables the implementation of much more complex operational protocols, and increases efficiency by applying artificial intelligence algorithms to automate smart operations.
Success case with RWE
“ARSOS has surpassed our expectations and has proven that we can operate a fleet twice as big with the same resources,” said Antonio González, RWE’s Iberian ROC Director.
Renewable energy giant RWE is an existing client of Green Eagle Solutions’ data acquisition services, and experienced scalability issues in its Iberian ROC as the number of turbines to operate grew. With plans to double its number of turbines operated, the company was keen to try out the automation system.
In one month, in just one RWE wind farm, the software executed 910 automated actions, 600 turbine resets and 300 notifications informing field technicians of onsite issues that needed attendance. RWE estimates that automation will optimise and potentially save around 1,400 hours of work and generate €582K of benefits per year. This amount comes from the immediate response time, an increase in availability and production, and a reduction of maintenance costs. Based on these results, RWE has now expanded use of the software to its entire 750 turbine fleet in Spain and Italy.
Bourbon and TetraSpar to pave the way for next-generation floaters
Bourbon Subsea Services continues its cooperation with TetraSpar Demonstrator ApS and has been awarded the turnkey contract for transportation and installation of the innovative TetraSpar Demonstrator Floating Wind Turbine (FWT) prototype in Norway
As part of its partnership with TetraSpar Demonstrator ApS, Bourbon Subsea Services will manage the transportation and installation of the 3.6 MW Floating Wind Turbine prototype. This new turnkey stage includes project management, engineering, installation and offshore execution from assembly port in Denmark until hook-up and Inter Array Cable installation on Metcenter Test site in Norway this summer.
This is the fifth floating wind turbine project Bourbon Subsea Services has been awarded since the company decided to gear its activities towards renewable energy in 2011. This demonstrates Bourbon Subsea Services’ expertise in the construction of Floating Wind Turbines (FWT) offshore farms and its ability to propose innovative solutions to achieve new complex technical challenges while maintaining low cost.
The TetraSpar FWT is particularly innovative in comparison to the other prototypes already installed worldwide. The defining feature of the TetraSpar foundation concept is the modular “building block” arrangement: each foundation is assembled from tubular steel modules, most of which are common to all configurations. Manufacturing takes place in factories using industrialised methods, and their assembly near the site as well as towing are measured in days or weeks, instead of months.
Another particularity of TetraSpar Demonstrator is its stability provided by a keel deployed 50 m below the floater. This keel deployment is the main challenge for the offshore installation. Bourbon Subsea Services will deploy innovative methodology to connect this keel to the floater in port and later on once offshore, to lower it safely and efficiently.
Henrik Stiesdal, Chairman of the board of directors of TetraSpar Demonstrator ApS: “We have been very pleased to work with Bourbon Subsea Services during the first phases of the project. Bourbon Subsea Services bring valuable experience from floating wind execution to the team, and all the partners welcome their continued contribution as we move forward to the exciting next phases of the project.”
“We are particularly honoured to have reached this final phase of the TetraSpar Demonstrator project. This is the result of a long-term team collaboration between Bourbon Subsea Services and TetraSpar Demonstrator ApS. It demonstrates our capacity to deliver safe and innovative solutions in a highly cost constrained environment. We look forward to supporting TetraSpar Demonstrator ApS and its partners in successfully delivering this installation” says Patrick Belenfant, CEO of Bourbon Subsea Services.
Wind Industry Success Stories 2020
We’ve been looking back at how our industry performed last year, and from all across the sector, we have seen examples of what we do best – working and operating under even the most difficult circumstances. We felt the impact of COVID-19, but we also faced the challenges head-on, and we stood our ground. We have a lot to be proud of.
We’ll be posting our final instalment of success stories over the course of this month, rounding up our inspiring retrospective on the past year. We’d like to thank everyone who has contributed to this series, and for the example they’ve shown to our entire industry.
Members interview: NeuerEnergy
Muhammad Malik, CEO and Founder of NeuerEnergy
This month, we sat down with Muhammad Malik, CEO and Founder of NeuerEnergy, to discuss their contribution to corporate decarbonisation, sustainability, and the importance of digitisation.
Events
Webinar: Wind Energy Financing and Investment Trends 2020
When: 14 April, 15:00-16:00 CEST
What were the financing and investment trends for European wind energy in 2020? Join our live webinar with a panel of experts on 14 April to learn more.
This session will include a presentation of our annual report on trends and statistics in financing and investments in wind energy in Europe, including new asset financing, project acquisitions, green bonds and PPAs. We’ll be publishing the report the day before, on 13 April.
Join the free live discussion with:
- Guy Brindley, Senior Analyst, Wind Energy Finance, WindEurope
- Hannah Hunt, Impact Director, RE-Source Platform
- Pierre Tardieu, Chief Policy Officer, WindEurope
- Christoph Zipf, Press & Communications Manager, WindEurope
We’ll also cover recent political developments affecting the financing and build-out of wind energy in the context of the EU’s revised greenhouse gas emission targets.
Save the Date: EU ETS reform and wind investments – how CO2 prices impact financing decisions
When: 22 April, 15:00-16:00 CEST
Join us for the first of our April-June Sofa Talk series, shedding light on upcoming EU policy initiatives.
The EU is reforming its Emissions Trading System to help deliver its new 55% climate target.
This is likely to drive up the CO2 price well beyond the increases of the last two years.
How will higher CO2 prices impact wind investments? How will they impact wholesale power prices? Is the CO2 price just an avoided cost, or can it support revenue? Will hedging undermine the impact of a higher CO2 price anyway?
Join our panel of industry leaders to find out what a revamped ETS means for wind investments.
More Sofa Talks on the way!
- Getting fit for 55 – how can the revision of the EU Renewables Directive support more wind
When: 12 May, 15:00-16:00 CEST - Advanced manufacturing in the European wind industry
When: 3 June, 15:00-16:00 CEST
Click on the links to register now! We’ll be back with more info soon!
Electric City 2021: Update
The call for abstracts for Electric City 2021 is now closed. The review will take place in April and after grading, our Technical and Scientific committee will select the best content for presentation at the event.
We expect to have a programme for the Technical and Scientific Track drawn up by the end of May, once final selections have been made. Keep an eye out for updates on this in a few weeks’ time!
ETIPWind workshop: Delivering circularity through innovative materials and recycling technology
When: 4 May, 10:00-16:00 CEST
Join us for the first of our April-June Sofa Talk series, shedding light on upcoming EU policy initiatives.
The EU is reforming its Emissions Trading System to help deliver its new 55% climate target. This is likely to drive up the CO2 price well beyond the increases of the last two years.
How will higher CO2 prices impact wind investments? How will they impact wholesale power prices? Is the CO2 price just an avoided cost, or can it support revenue? Will hedging undermine the impact of a higher CO2 price anyway?
Join our panel of industry leaders to find out what a revamped ETS means for wind investments.
Partnered Events
Virtual 5th International Hybrid Power Systems Workshop from 18 – 19 May 2021
Join the virtual 5th International Hybrid Power Systems Workshop to learn about challenges and solutions to integrating high shares of renewables into hybrid power systems, micro-grids and island power systems! With 70+ presentations across 19 sessions, the virtual 5th Hybrid Power Systems Workshop offers a wide variety of topics: a special focus of the agenda will be international case studies and lessons learnt.
The workshop will be preceded by the Tutorial “Introduction to Hybrid Power Systems and Case Studies” on 17 May 2021. For more information on the events including online registration and participation fees, check out the workshop website.
