WindEurope Bulletin
WindEurope Bulletin February 2020
7 February 2020
Giles DicksonCEO Foreword
Dear WindEurope Member,
Last month brought good news for Europe, the climate and for wind energy. The EU Commission unveiled its Sustainable Europe Investment Plan, the financial pillar of the European Green Deal. It is bigger and better than any previous European investment initiative. The political focus is now firmly on climate-neutrality, and the EU aims to mobilise €1 trillion in investments over the next 10 years to support the energy transition towards 2050. (We analyse and outline our positions on the Green Deal here.)
So how does the €1 trillion break down – and what does it mean for wind? Half of the trillion will come from the EU budget. Member States are expected to co-finance another €100 billion. And the rest will come from private and public investments through a new programme called “InvestEU” that’ll be run primarily through the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The EIB has already committed to increase its climate finance to 50% of all its lending. It’s also laid out a new energy-lending policy to stop financing traditional fossil fuels and focus fully on energy efficiency, renewable energy and climate-friendly projects.
So the money is there. But we need to stake our claim to it and make sure we use it. The EU Commission see wind being half of Europe’s electricity by 2050. That requires a huge volume of investments. And we need to be proactive to make the most of the different funding and financing the EU is making available to support those investments. Let us know if you want to try to access EIB support.
Next month I will tell you more about what we can expect from the European Green Deal.
We’ve just published the data on new offshore wind installations and investments in 2019 and will do the same for onshore wind on 17 February. Neither the onshore nor offshore installations are running at the rate required to deliver the Green Deal, even though we installed a record amount of offshore wind last year.
We’re doing a webinar on the offshore statistics on 11 February. And one covering the onshore and offshore data on 25 February. You can register for both here.
Finally, on 18 February we’re co-organising “emPOWER”, a half day Summit in Brussels on the energy transition. We’ve got a good line up of speakers: the new EU Energy Commissiomer, Kadri Simson; the Chairman of the European Parliament Committee for Industry and Energy, Cristian Busoi; the Energy VP in the EIB, Andrew McDowell; and the CEO of TenneT, Manon van Beek. Tickets are selling fast, so register soon if you’re able to come.
Giles Dickson
Business Intelligence Spotlight
Europe installs a record 3.6 GW of offshore wind in 2019
Europe installed 3.6 GW of new offshore wind capacity in 2019, according to our recently released offshore statistics. This is a new record in annual installations.
10 new offshore wind farms came online across 5 countries. The UK accounted for nearly half of the new capacity with 1.7 GW. Then came Germany (1.1 GW), Denmark (374 MW) and Belgium (370 MW). And Portugal installed 8 MW of floating offshore wind. Europe now has 22 GW of offshore wind. The UK and Germany account for three-quarters of it. Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands share nearly all of the rest.
The average size of the offshore turbines installed last year was 7.8 MW. A 12 MW offshore wind turbine was installed in Rotterdam. Offshore wind farms are also getting bigger. The average size doubled – it was 300 MW in 2010. Now it is over 600 MW. The largest is Hornsea 1 in the UK – 1.2 GW.
The launch of the new Portuguese floating project – WindFloat Atlantic, funded by the EU’s NER300 programme, means Europe now has 45 MW of floating offshore wind. France, the UK, Norway and Portugal are all developing new floating projects. France plans to auction a large-scale floating wind farm in 2021.
Offshore wind costs continue to fall significantly. Last year’s auctions – in the UK, France and the Netherlands – delivered prices for consumers in the range of €40-50/MWh. This is cheaper than building new gas, coal or nuclear.
2019 also saw investment decisions in 4 new offshore wind farms, representing 1.4 GW in capacity and €6bn in investments.
The European Commission says Europe needs between 230 and 450 GW of offshore wind by 2050 to decarbonise the energy system and deliver the Green Deal. This requires Europe to build 7 GW of new offshore wind a year by 2030 and ramp up to 18 GW a year by 2050. But the current level of new installations and investments is a long way behind that.
Want to find out more?
Members’ News
Vestas set to become carbon-neutral by 2030
The turbine manufacturer has announced it will cut its carbon footprint by 55 per cent by 2025 and hit 100 per cent by 2030.
Vestas has declared it will achieve this without using offsets, all as part of a drive to “lead the transition to a world powered by sustainable energy”.
Vestas will transition to electric vehicles for its company cars and to renewable fuels for its service fleet this year. It will also begin exploring further steps to reduce heating- and transport-related CO2 emissions from the company’s operations.
“To remain at the forefront of the energy transition we must do even more than today to meet the growing sustainability expectations of our customers, partners, investors and employees,” said Vestas CEO Henrik Andersen. “Our commitment to become carbon-neutral is the right thing to do for all of us.”
Vestas has installed more than 108 GW of wind turbines worldwide, and was the first turbine manufacturer to surpass 100 GW of global installations.
Events
Final tickets available for emPOWER – the Energy Transition Summit
When: 18 February
Where: Brussels
Final tickets are selling out for emPOWER, the Energy Transition Summit.
Organised by WindEurope, SolarPower Europe, Renewables Grid Initiative and SmartEn, emPOWER is a one-day event designed to showcase innovative solutions to help deliver the European Green Deal.
Attendees – including Andrew McDowell, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank, Manon van Beek, CEO of Tennet, and Cristian Bușoi, Chairman of the European Parliament Committee in charge of Industry and Energy – will join other leaders from the worlds of policy and industry to take stock of where Europe is – and where it needs to go next – in achieving the ambitions of the European Green Deal.
Topics covered will include:
- The new energy system – 2020 snapshot
- Game-changers of the new energy system
- A 100% renewables-based energy system – key features and challenges
- Fire-side chat: Planning the transition to a net zero-carbon economy
Attendance is essential for anyone with an interest in how we achieve the energy transition. Check out the complete programme here.
Free webinar – Offshore Wind in Europe 2019: Trends and Statistics
When: 11 February, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM CET
Join WindEurope analysts as we discuss the latest developments within the European offshore wind industry, outlining key installations in offshore wind farms, supply chain activity and investment trends.
This will be followed by a Q&A session for participants.
Free webinar – Wind Energy in Europe 2019: Trends and statistics
When: 25 February, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM CET
WindEurope analysts will discuss the latest developments within the European wind industry, outlining key installation, technology trends and electricity generation highlights.
This will be followed by a Q&A session for participants.
WindEnergy Hamburg 2020: the world’s largest wind energy event
When: 22 – 25 September
Where: Hamburg
Organised by Hamburg Messe und Congress and WindEurope, the world’s largest wind energy event returns in 2020. As we enter a pivotal decade in the global energy transition, this event will unite wind industry players from every continent to do business.
Save the date: Workshop on Resource Assessment & Analysis of Operating Wind Farms
When: 23 – 24 April
Where: Naples, Italy
Are you an expert in the Analysis of Operating Wind Farms or Resource Assessment? Or do you have something to say about wind farm strategy, data and business model decisions?
In 2020 WindEurope will be hosting technical workshop on all these topics in the same venue, at the same time. We’ll be gathering on 23-24 April 2020 in Naples, Italy. This means less travel for you and more networking opportunities for all of us.
