WindEurope Bulletin March 2024

A word from the CEO

Dear WindEurope member,

Next week from 20-22 March we’ll be meeting in Bilbao for the WindEurope Annual Event. We’re expecting over 12,000 people. Over 500 companies are exhibiting. And 14 Government Ministers are coming

The theme is “our wind, our value”. We want to highlight the value that wind energy brings to people: for their energy security, national security, the benefits to local communities, the jobs and investments and how wind supports nature and biodiversity. And how wind contributes to Europe’s values. The full conference programme is here.

The exhibition will be showcasing all the latest technology developments. And it’ll have a dedicated Startup Pavilion, a Markets Theatre looking at developments in different countries – and a Powering the Future Stage focusing on electrification, hydrogen and other developments on the demand side. And there’ll be plenty of networking opportunities at the social and side events onsite and across Bilbao, starting with the WindEurope Members Reception on Tuesday 19 March.

We’re conscious many of you have had difficulties finding flights and accommodation. There are going to be more of us than there are hotel rooms in Bilbao. We’ve secured extra accommodation in nearby Vitoria exclusively for Members and will be laying on shuttle buses there. We’ve also arranged a number of charter flights to Bilbao. You can find more details in the events section below. And if you haven’t already registered for the event, you can do so here.

We’ve just published the 2023 annual statistics for wind in Europe and an outlook for annual installations broken down by country over 2024-30. You can read it here. The EU installed a record 16.2 GW of new capacity last year – 79% of which was onshore. For Europe as a whole, the figure was 18.3 GW. And wind made up 19% of final electricity consumption – and it’s over 20% in 8 countries now.

For 2024-30 we expect annual installations to average 29 GW in the EU. The increase compared to what we’re currently installing reflects:

• improvements in permitting, thanks in part to the new EU rules. Germany and Spain permitted 70% more onshore wind last year than in 2022, with Germany permitting 7.5 GW;
• a rebound in investments. Final investment decisions in wind were more than double what they were in 2022, with €30bn in offshore alone; and
• an increase in auction volumes. Governments awarded 26 GW of new capacity in their auctions last year, 50/50 onshore and offshore.

These trends reflect strong Government ambition for the build-out of wind, and the new commitment Governments made last year to strengthen our industry with the EU Wind Power Package and European Wind Charter.

At the same time, our supply chain is returning to profitability and new factories are being built, notably in the offshore wind value chain. The average 29 GW of new build a year would bring us to 393 GW installed capacity in the EU by 2030, within reach of the EU target of 425 GW.

But there is one big proviso – the build-out of the grid. Hundreds of GW of wind farms are still waiting for their grid connection permit. The EU recognises the problem and has published a Grid Action Plan to tackle it. It calls for anticipatory grid investment, better top-down planning and a more proactive approach to grid connection queues, now prioritising mature projects rather than adopting an outdated ‘first come first served’ approach. Europe needs to invest more in ports and other transport infrastructure to facilitate accelerated wind deployment.

If you want to see what our report says about your country, we’ve put together a series of videos looking at key findings from different countries – filmed in national languages. We’ve uploaded them to LinkedIn here. Feel free to share these with your networks.

I look forward to seeing many of you in Bilbao next week.

Kind regards,

Giles Dickson

WindEurope Intelligence Platform