WindEurope Bulletin
WindEurope Bulletin January 2020
10 January 2020
Giles DicksonCEO Foreword
Dear WindEurope Member,
Can I begin by wishing you the very best for the New Year. Our Chairman Gunnar Groebler wrote to you last week to send you the WindEurope Work Programme for 2020. Among our extensive goals this year, he highlighted 2 must-win priorities:
- Making sure Europe recognises wind energy as a strategic industrial sector and prioritises the competitiveness of our supply chain; and
- Tackling our challenges on project acceptance via targeted communications, community engagement and participation and streamlined permitting rules.
Let me elaborate on these. First, competitiveness and industrial policy. As you know, the EU has now agreed on principle to be climate-neutral by 2050, as part of the new Green Deal. Wind is uniquely positioned to help deliver this ambition. The EU Commission see wind being half of Europe’s electricity by 2050 and electricity being half of Europe’s energy. So on paper these should be boom times for our industry. But the picture on the ground is quite different. We’ve all seen what’s been happening in Germany and elsewhere. Our supply chain is under unprecedented pressure. At a time when we should be surging, we’re facing uncertainty over revenues and margins and in some places unhelpful Government policies too. Europe needs a clear industrial policy for renewables as part of its Green Deal. And national Governments need ambitious volumes in their National Energy and Climate Plans for 2030. We’ll be sending you our analysis of these in the coming weeks btw..
Now, public acceptance. We all know the majority of Europeans support wind energy and the building of more onshore wind farms. But interests hostile to wind continue to have an outsized influence on where and when we can build the wind farms that Europe both wants and needs. This year we will be stepping up our targeted communications to meet the challenges of permitting and project acceptance. This will range from work on community engagement and participation in wind projects to a more public-facing online presence. We need to sell the story of wind to the wider world, delivering our messages to the ordinary citizen with clear messaging. Check out our recently revamped homepage for an example of this.
2020 will also be a big year for WindEurope events. Allow me to highlight just 3 of these:
- “emPOWER” – our Energy Transition Summit on 18 February in Brussels. We’ll be engaging new EU policymakers on how we can help deliver the European Green Deal;
- the WindEurope Technology Workshop on 23 and 24 April in Naples. This will be a combined workshop covering both Resource Assessment and Analysis of Operating Wind Farms; and
- WindEnergy Hamburg from 22 to 25 September. Our big event of the year. The conference will be meshed into the exhibition. Key themes will be climate change, the Green Deal, electrification and people and communities.
Finally, registration is now open for our upcoming webinars on Offshore Wind in Europe 2019: Trends and Statistics and Wind Energy in Europe 2019: Trends and statistics.
I look forward to working with you to make 2020 – and the 2020s – a great success.
Giles Dickson
Members’ News
Vattenfall and Swire Blue Ocean sign final contract for transportation and installation of turbines at Hollandse Kust Zuid wind farm
Vattenfall and Swire Blue Ocean (SBO) have just signed the final contract for transportation and installation of turbines at the Hollandse Kust Zuid wind farm, off the coast of the Netherlands. Using Pacific Osprey, SBO will transport and install approximately 140 units of Siemens Gamesa’s newest and largest Direct Drive offshore turbines, which can reach a capacity of 11 MW.
“Early and close collaboration with suppliers like Swire Blue Ocean has been a deciding factor in our successful bid to build the Hollandse Kust Zuid wind farm in the Dutch sector of the North Sea,” said Catrin Jung, Vattenfall’s acting Head of Business Unit Offshore.
The Pacific Osprey will have an upgraded 1,200t crane, with a boom 15m longer than the original, and a 4,300m2 deck area. She is one of the few wind farm Installation Vessels capable of installing the new generation of turbines, and is ideal for this purpose. Mikkel Gleerup, CEO of SBO, said “This contract enables SBO to step into the next generation of turbines and demonstrates its ability to adapt to the fast evolution of the market.”
Swire Blue Ocean will need approximately one year to complete this campaign, from loading the first turbine parts for transport to installing the last turbine.
PPA procurement platform LevelTen Energy joins WindEurope
In an expansion of its operations into Europe, LevelTen Energy has joined WindEurope and aims to simplify PPA procurement processes for European wind energy players and corporate buyers.
Corporate procurement of renewable energy has a major role to play in the energy transition, and LevelTen aims to accelerate that by breaking down the barriers that prevent corporations from entering into a renewable PPA.
The LevelTen Energy platform allows corporations to access advanced analytics on renewable projects, standard documentation and process best practices. This reduces the cost, complexity and risk of renewable power purchase agreements. Since its launch in 2018, corporations have procured more than one billion dollars of clean energy using LevelTen’s platform.
In October 2019, the company expanded its two-sided renewable energy marketplace to Europe and are accepting projects from European developers.
French Environment & Energy Management Agency approves final stage of Dolfines’ EolFloat project
The French Environment & Energy Management Agency (ADEME) has approved the EolFloat project based on Dolfines’ TrussFloat floating foundation. At a Technological Readiness Level (TRL) of 6, the foundation is now ready to enter the market.
The TrussFloat foundation is a fully flexible semi-submersible floating platform for various floating wind power applications, able to accommodate two- and three-bladed, up- and down-wind turbines with a power capacity of 6 MW and above. The technology has a high deck capacity and superior stability at light weight.
The expansion of offshore wind, as part of the global fight against climate change, will require both bottom-fixed and floating offshore turbines. Floating technology unlocks new horizons of wind power at sea. The success of the EolFloat project based on Dolfines’ TrussFloat foundation marks the emergence of an important new player in the floating wind market.
Events
After the European Green Deal: join emPOWER – the Energy Transition Summit
When: 18 February
Where: Brussels
Registration is now open for the inaugural edition of emPOWER, the Energy Transition Summit.
emPOWER is a one-day event designed to showcase innovative solutions to help deliver the European Green Deal.
Organised by WindEurope, SolarPower Europe, Renewables Grid Initiative and SmartEn, emPOWER will gather 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 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.
Last chance to submit abstracts.
