WindEurope Bulletin
WindEurope Bulletin March 2023
3 March 2023
CEO Foreword
Dear WindEurope member,
This week we released the “Wind Energy in Europe” statistics report for 2022. Europe built 19 GW of new wind farms last year, 87% of which was onshore. For the EU the figure was 16 GW. Over the period 2023-2027 we expect the EU installation rate to average 20 GW of new wind a year.
This is a good deal below the 31 GW the EU needs to build each year to meet its climate and energy goals for 2030. The latter requires movement on key three areas. First, more progress on the simplification of permitting. Second, restoring the right market signals to boost investments. And third by Europe investing in our value chain and shoring up our manufacturing base.
You can read the full report here. We’re hosting a webinar next Tuesday 7 March to give you more insight into last year’s numbers and to talk you through the outlook for the years ahead. Click here to sign up. There’ll be two more webinars later in March and in April looking at the Offshore Statistics and the Financial Trends – more info on these here.
The report highlights the ongoing permitting problem, but it’s important to appreciate the progress we’ve seen in recent months. The EU’s new measures on permitting are starting to bear fruit. In Germany, the “overriding public interest” principle, introduced under REPowerEU, is already unlocking projects that were stuck in the permitting process – we’re winning court cases we’d have lost before. The Germans have doubled the rate of onshore permits compared with three years ago, and permitting numbers are looking up elsewhere too. France has just passed its first law on renewable energy, and this makes local politicians jointly responsible for implementing the energy transition.
The next big step on permitting will be final agreement on new rules in the EU Renewable Energy Directive. This will come very soon – and hopefully will clarify that the 2-year deadline covers all permits, reinforce the population-based approach to species protection, and give us better rules on repowering.
This month (16 March) also sees new reforms to the EU’s Electricity Market Design. Getting this right will be vital if we want to reverse the recent fall in wind investments. Unhelpful market interventions by Governments last year did a lot of damage to investor confidence. This upcoming reform should make it clear that these measures are temporary. Contracts-for-Difference will be crucial for new investments. But investors should also be allowed to finance their projects with Power Purchase Agreements or on a purely merchant basis if they prefer. You can read more about our recommendations here.
Finally a word about the supply chain. We really need to see it ramp up if we want to build all the new projects Governments want. There’s been some encouraging news recently with new investments in offshore foundation manufacturing in Spain and the Netherlands. But we’ve a long way to go. The forthcoming EU response to the US IRA, the “Net Zero Industry Act”, should make state aid rules more flexible and facilitate grants and finance for investments in new plants and infrastructure. The EU Commission will publish its proposals on 14 March. More on this here.
All these issues will feature at WindEurope’s Annual Event in Copenhagen on 25-27 April. We’ve 450 exhibitors and expect over 10,000 people. The programme is here. IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol and EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson will be there along with several Energy Ministers from around Europe. And there’ll be plenty of social and side events to look forward to as well, both at the venue and across Copenhagen. You can register here – do come if you can!
Kind regards,
Giles Dickson
WindEurope Intelligence Platform
Wind energy in Europe: 2022 Statistics and the outlook for 2023-2027
This report summarises new installations and financing activity in Europe’s wind farms from 1 January to 31 December 2022. It also analyses how European markets will develop in the next five years (2023 to 2024). The outlook is based on WindEurope internal analysis and consultation with its members.
Members Successes
European wind developers lining up to use new software Vind to develop offshore wind projects
European wind developers lining up to use new software Vind to develop offshore wind projects
Vind is a Norwegian company looking to create the future “industry standard” software for screening and designing wind projects globally. Vind believes that advanced technical tools leveraging artificial intelligence together with collaboration and communication is the key to successful wind projects. More specifically, Vind develops a software which allows for seamless design of new offshore wind projects. It combines access to data, analyses, optimisation and collaboration in a user-friendly interface accessed directly from the browser. The software provides users with a way to screen new project sites and design parks in detail in preparation for permit applications.
“Our mission is to reduce project time and cost, and increase the production efficiency of wind projects, while mitigating their impact on nature and local societies” says Helene Bøhler, Co-Founder and CEO of Vind.
European wind developers have been using the software both for screening and tendering, depending on the stage they are in.
“Some developers are using Vind for early site investigation. We are enthusiastic to hear that they are spending just a few days on what they previously needed many weeks for, due to our technology and extensive data availability.” says Hilde Njøten, Co-founder and COO of Vind.
“Others are using Vind for the tendering process, where they analyse turbine placement and cable optimisation, among other things. Because calculations are run in the cloud, it is possible to see wake effects from both internal and external turbines in just a few seconds” adds Jan-Tore, Co-Founder and CTO of Vind.
Improved communication with public authorities and local interests is also a focus area. One of Vind’s partners, RWE, has just implemented Vind on one of their project webpages with the aim of communicating with stakeholders in a more interactive way. Vind allows affected neighbours to see different cable scenarios and visualise how the park will look from their homes in a 3D simulation.
Exfin Renewable Energy Financial Modelling Solution (Exceedence)
Exfin is an advanced software solution for project developers, consultants, and investors. Detailed technical and financial models are critical to selecting and developing the best projects. In response to this key requirement, Exceedence has just released Exfin to the market. Exfin integrates with existing technical tools, creating actionable insights based on financial KPIs, allowing users to optimise their wind farms through LCOE, bid prices and margins. Multiple projects or iterations of a project can be analysed on a ‘what if’ basis. The user can then continue to build out the best projects adding more and more granular data as they go making the projects more robust and ultimately reducing project risk. Having such risk profiles well documented on a standardised platform makes it easier to gain all round stakeholder support.
Exceedence Ltd. is an Irish company specialising in the offshore renewable energy sector since 2015. The senior team at Exceedence possess deep knowledge and expertise in the specialist areas of renewable energy, finance, ICT, and policy and have been successfully providing technical economic services to the sector for over 20 years. Exceedence developed Exfin when they identified the need for consistent, reliable financial models to help de-risk renewable energy projects and accelerate their route to market.
Exfin is the result of years of working with developers and financial analysts to understand their workflows and challenges and cultivate a best fit solution. It is designed for teams and enables them to collaborate in real time to gain actionable insights about their renewable energy projects.
Ray Alcorn, CEO & Founder
Exfin is currently being used by both technology and project developers within leading energy organisations across offshore wind, wave, tidal and floating solar. In the EU flagship Green Deal project, Exfin is the key decision tool developing multiuse offshore parks with partners such as EDPR, RWE, Enel, Simply Blue Group and others.
The renewable energy industry has really picked up the pace and is eventually open to changing from the status quo. We’re really looking forward to growing our user base in 2023 and moving closer to our ambition of seeing Exfin adopted as the industry standard for renewable energy financial modelling.
Georgina Foley, Chief Commercial Officer
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: Technip Energies
This month, we sat down with Willy Gauttier, VP Floating Offshore Wind at Technip Energies, to discuss Technip’s impressive track record of collaborative wind energy projects, its work on floating offshore wind, and its views on the state of the supply chain.
Events
WindEurope Annual Event 2023
When: 25-27 April
Where: Copenhagen
The wind industry’s biggest gathering in Europe this year is heading to Copenhagen, in less than two months’ time! This is a chance to reckon with the challenges still facing our sector. Our targets have been set. We know what Governments and the public expect of us. Now it’s time to step into action and overcome the barriers to growth. It’s time to deliver.
The conference will be covering all the challenges facing our industry
In 50+ sessions across the three days, we’ll be joined by 250+ speakers – Government ministers, industry people, the financial community, innovators, local representatives and NGOs. All of the stakeholders whose input and guidance will be vital if we want to clear the hurdles and kickstart the buildout of wind. See who’s speaking here – and check out the full programme to see what we’ll be covering.
You’ll see the entire industry upfront and in person
430+ exhibitors from the entire value chain will be taking part – check out the floorplan here. This is the ideal venue to build your contact base, reconnect with old colleagues and seal new deals.
And there’ll be plenty of networking opportunities too. Our social and side events will be running across the three days and into the evenings – featuring food, drink and memorable settings both onsite and across Copenhagen.
This is a make-or-break moment for wind. If we want to get our industry moving, everyone’s input is needed. So don’t miss out! You can register here. We’ll see you in Copenhagen!
WindEurope Technology Workshop 2023
When: 1-2 June
Where: Lyon
WindEurope is heading to Lyon from 1-2 June! The Technology Workshop is our annual gathering dealing with Resource Assessment and Analysis of Operating Wind Farms.
Whether you’re looking to maximise returns, track changing wind patterns, cut down on grid curtailment, make better use of data or explore AI solutions – this is the event for you. You’ll also have the chance meet other experts and innovators in this field. Check out some of the speakers and topics from previous workshops here.
Many thanks to those of you who sent in your abstracts! More info on the programme and registration will be on the way soon.
Upcoming WindEurope Webinars
WindEurope will be hosting a series of free webinars over the next few weeks, covering the latest market intelligence reports for 2022.
In the first two webinars, we’ll be looking at the growth of wind itself last year – both onshore and offshore, plus policy developments affecting wind energy – permitting, market design etc. The third webinar will look at financing and investment trends in 2022 – including asset financing, project acquisitions, green bonds and PPAs.
Please find dates and links to the webinars below:
- Wind energy in Europe: 2022 Statistics and the outlook for 2023-2027 – 7 March 2023, 15:00-16:00 CET
- Offshore Wind in Europe 2022: Trends and statistics – 16 March 2023, 15:00-16:00 CET
- Wind Energy Financing and Investment Trends 2022– 5 April 2023, 15:00-16:00 CEST
Job opportunities at WindEurope
WindEurope is a dynamic team of professionals – passionate about our work and strongly committed to the values of our organisation. We work at the cutting edge of wind energy policy: what we do here positively affects Europe and the wider world as well.
Become a part of our team and see how you can help shape the future of wind energy in Europe! Check out our current job openings below:
