WindEurope Bulletin
WindEurope Bulletin June 2023
7 June 2023
CEO Foreword
Dear WindEurope Member,
Thank you to those of you who came to Lyon last week for this year’s WindEurope Technology Workshop. It was good to see such a strong turnout. And there were good discussions on optimising the performance of existing wind farms, boosting our yield and looking at future challenges. We’ll upload the proceedings on our website in the next few days.
EU countries are edging closer to an agreement on new rules for electricity markets. They may agree something later this month based on helpful proposals from the EU Commission to restrict unhelpful Government interventions in markets and restore investor certainty. We badly need this after the drop in investments in new wind we saw in 2022. But EU Member States will then have to agree a final text with the European Parliament. And the MEP in charge, a Spanish socialist, is proposing unhelpful amendments, which would prolong revenue caps and lower the threshold needed to apply them. We need to keep fighting on this. Here is our latest paper on what should happen on electricity market design.
The EU’s Net Zero Industry Act is also moving forward. Our priority here is to ensure the Act genuinely supports the European wind value chain. The EU Commission proposal points in the right direction but needs beefing up. And we’re working hard with national Governments and the European Parliament to do precisely that. E.g. the idea that Governments need to use non-price criteria in their auctions needs strengthening so that auctions reward projects that use technology that is made in Europe.
Now, we talk about our lobbying of the European Parliament. For the next two weeks we’re giving them something physical too. We’ve installed in front of the Parliament an exhibition of outdoor furniture and artwork made from recycled turbine blades. The furniture was designed in Poland and is on display until 16 June – coinciding with Global Wind Day on 15 June. If you’re in Belgium, do come and see it.
A few quick words on our events:
- We’ve launched the call for abstracts for WindEurope 2024 in Bilbao which is taking place on 20-22 March. The deadline is 8 September – click here. The exhibition for Bilbao was almost sold out, so we’ve opened new space at the venue;
- The annual RE-Source Event on PPAs takes place in Amsterdam on 26-27 October – at the Beurs van Berlage conference centre. Registration will open later this month; and
- EoLIS 2023, our annual conference on end-of-life, repowering and circularity issues, is taking place in Rotterdam on 22-23 November. We’ll share more details in the coming weeks.
Kind regards,
Giles Dickson
WindEurope Intelligence Platform
Our featured products this month
© Parc éolien en mer de Saint-Nazaire – Production CAPA Corporate. Photo Tim Fox
Offshore grids: the next frontier
This report is a collaboration between WindEurope and Hitachi Energy. It describes the current state of offshore infrastructure development across Europe, the opportunities, and challenges, as well as the enablers associated with delivering this offshore future. Plus the short-to-medium-term actions which will drive offshore industry growth and the creation of meshed offshore grids.
© Hitachi Energy / Aibel
The state of the European wind energy supply chain
This report has been produced by Rystad Energy in cooperation with WindEurope. The aim of this report is to assess the state of the European wind supply chain and its ability to support ambitious capacity targets by 2030.
Share your successes with us!
Is your brand bringing new, ground-breaking solutions to the wind industry? Have you recently launched a major project in your field? Do you have positive business news to share?
Then make sure to get in touch with us here at WindEurope – we’ll be happy to promote your success story as part of our monthly Bulletin! This is a chance to share your accomplishments with thousands of others from right across the wind energy value chain – a major visibility boost.
Please be aware that this service is only available to members from the categories C3 and above. Publication of stories is on a first come, first served basis.
Get in touch with our Membership team now to send in your news!
Members interview: Seawind Ocean Technology
This month we sat down with Dimitrios Moudouris, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Seawind Ocean Technology, to talk about Seawind’s role across the offshore wind value chain, the rapid upscaling of turbine ratings, and their goal of becoming a resilient and cost-effective turbine supplier.
Events
Technology Workshop 2023 – Proceedings Available
Many thanks to all of you again who joined us at the Centre de Congrès in Lyon last week for this year’s edition of the Technology Workshop. We use these gatherings as a chance to share findings and breakthroughs in wind farm operations and resource assessment – and this year certainly didn’t disappoint. We look forward to seeing you all again next June!
Attendees at the Workshop will receive access to the Workshop Proceedings later this week via email. If you missed the Workshop, you can still access the Proceedings through the Members Area.
Get in touch with us if you have any questions!
RE-Source 2023: Save the Date!
When: 26-27 October
Where: Amsterdam
RE-Source Event – Europe’s biggest gathering on PPAs and corporate renewable sourcing returns to Amsterdam on 26-27 October!
We’re heading to a new venue – the Beurs van Berlage conference centre – and there’ll now be space for more attendees and corporate buyers there than ever before! Plus a wide-ranging conference programme looking at market updates from across Europe, a roundup of regulation, industry electrification, and the potential for renewable hydrogen. And plenty of B2B energy buyer-supplier meetings across the event.
Europe’s future is in home-grown renewable energy – and more buyers than ever before are getting ready to go green. And RE-Source 2023 is a chance for them to make the leap. So don’t miss out! Registration opens later this month!
WindEurope Annual Event 2024: Call for Abstracts open!
Copenhagen is still fresh in our memories. It was great to see the industry come alive like never before! But now we’re looking ahead to Europe’s next big wind energy gathering, as we head south to Bilbao for WindEurope’s Annual Event 2024!
We have a new date for the event! It’ll be taking place from 20-22 March next year, at the Bilbao Exhibition Centre (BEC). You can expect the same extensive programme, busy event schedule, special focuses and bustling exhibition. And the same diverse turnout from every link in the value chain – all with one goal in mind: putting wind on the path to success. Make sure to save the date now if you haven’t.
But now the power is in your hands! We’re opening a call for abstracts to help shape the conference – and to help drive the growth of wind in the years ahead!
Specifically we’re looking for:
- Concrete examples of implemented operational solutions – experience, feedback, real-world date etc.
- Innovative research, concepts and ideas to bring the industry forward.
- Abstracts falling under one of the technical themes of the conference – see here.
- No commercial content.
- A diverse response – we’d like to encourage as many abstracts from women in the industry as possible.
You have until 8 September to send in your ideas! So make sure you leave your mark at Bilbao next year – and in the industry going forward!
Other news
Help us to define the next R&I priorities for wind energy! (ETIPWind)
ETIPWind recently launched an online survey to consult the wind energy community on the R&I priorities expected to have a significant impact on the European wind energy sector’s competitiveness.
If you’d like to help shape the next set of wind energy R&I priorities for 2025-2027, fill in the survey here by 9 June.
Input received through this survey will help ETIPWind update its Strategic R&I Agenda – informing the future European Commission’s Horizon Europe project calls.
