WindEurope Bulletin
WindEurope Bulletin November 2021
2 November 2021
CEO Foreword
Dear WindEurope Member,
There’s less than one month to go to the annual WindEurope event in Copenhagen on 23-25 November (“Electric City”). Over 380 companies will be exhibiting. And we’re expecting at least 8,000 people. The event will cover all the key aspects on onshore wind and offshore wind and will focus also on the electrification of the energy system and how wind can help drive it. So alongside the wind industry there’ll also be people there from the transport, heating and hydrogen industries and from heavy industry. The stands have now sold out – here is the floorplan.
Safety is our No. 1 priority for the event. We’ll be doing everything to ensure things happen as comfortably and responsibly as possible. You can read our Health & Safety protocol here. You need a COVID certificate or recent test to attend. But there are no restrictions on movement – or stand receptions – once you’re in the venue. eoliYou can register here – and you do have to register before coming. There won’t be any on-site registration.
Now, energy prices… The high energy prices across Europe are a top issue for Governments, citizens and businesses right now. Governments are doing different things to try to manage the impact. Many are reducing taxes on electricity and/or shifting the tax burden from electricity bills to general taxation. This is good. Not least since it will help deliver a more level playing field between the tax treatment of gas and electricity. For too long electricity has been taxed more than gas per unit of energy consumption, and this has held back the electrification of heating and transport. Some Governments are also compensating consumers, household and industrial, for their higher energy costs. But some Governments have tried taxing wind farms and other generators more because they figure we’re benefitting unfairly from higher wholesale power prices. This is bad. Spain tried it. Now Romania is trying it as well.
Meanwhile the EU Commission has published a “toolbox” to guide EU Member States on how best to deal with the situation. It aims to protect vulnerable consumers and shelter Europe from the sort of volatile prices we see today. The toolbox says very clearly that the best solution is to accelerate the expansion of renewables. Because renewables are affordable, and they will help Europe reduce its dependence on non-EU energy supplies, especially gas. The toolbox welcomes what countries are doing to reduce electricity taxes and allows Governments to compensate consumers. But it gives no cover to Governments who want to claw back wind farm revenues. Good.
And one week after the toolbox Spain towed back significantly on its planned gas charge on wind farms. Good. But Romania has now brought in an 80% tax on all power producers for everything they earn above €95/MWh. Even worse, they’re now thinking of exempting all fossil plants from the tax. We are taking action with the EU Commission to push back against this, as we did with the Spanish measures.
Separately the EU Commission have confirmed as part of their toolbox on energy prices that they will issue guidance to National Governments next year on simplifying and accelerating the permitting process for renewable energy projects. We are working with them on the detail. They’ve also called on EU Member States to step up renewable auctions, build more electricity storage and invest more in cross-border grids. You can read more on all of this in our press release here.
The Commission have also highlighted corporate PPAs as a key response to the current energy prices – in that they help ensure stable and affordable power prices for Europe’s businesses. And they’ve proposed a raft of new initiatives to facilitate PPAs. This was the backdrop to our annual RE-Source Event in Amsterdam last month: Over 750 corporate buyers and renewables producers/sellers met for a conference and B2B matchmaking. Everything was in-person and safe – and a great rehearsal for our Copenhagen event.
Finally, the annual WindEurope event on end-of-life issues and strategies (EoLIS) takes place on 4-5 November in Brussels. The challenge of what to do with ageing wind farms gets bigger all the time. Most get their lifetime extended. But we need to repower much more if we’re going to meet our 2050 climate targets. So what’s the best legal framework for this? What about decommissioning – how do we deal with blade waste? And is there a way to make lifetime extended turbines more efficient?
EoLIS 2021 will identify best practices and solutions. You can still register here.
I look forward to seeing you at our annual event in Copenhagen on 23-25 November.
Kind regards,
Giles Dickson
Wind Intelligence Platform
Members’ Successes
Belgian offshore wind farm software platform e-Wind is now Offshare
e-Wind, a comprehensive platform for offshore wind farm management, is changing its name to Offshare. With the new name, developer e-BO Enterprises wants to emphasise the ease of sharing information through its integrated tool.
Centralised view of all business activities involved
The Offshare platform wants to introduce a new form of offshore collaboration. “The involvement of various teams and organisations in offshore wind farms makes data sharing difficult. This is even more challenging when consolidating insights in a digital twin from multiple geographically-spread wind farms.”, e-BO Enterprises CEO Christophe Dhaene explains. Structured, complete and shareable data however have already proven their worth in many fields.
With growing green energy demands, data can also push wind farm operations further ahead, e-BO enterprises claims. “The Offshare platform offers users a centralised and customisable view of all teams, activities and processes. Ultimately, this allows them to collect data more accurately to increase the efficiency of their wind farm.”
About e-BO Enterprises
e-BO Enterprises is a high-tech company that has been delivering end-to-end secure solutions in a service model for over twenty years. The company operates and valorises information platforms in a wide variety of industries where critical and complex infrastructure is present or where information demands strong security. e-BO Enterprises designs, manages, secures and maintains industrial wired and wireless networks for ports, wind farms, national and international companies and Government agencies with the goal of increasing efficiency and reducing costs.
Lights off: new technology revives stalled wind farm projects (Terma)
Wind farm obstruction safety lights have long been a major source of complaint for people living near wind farms. A new solution now enables fully automated light control systems.
Time and time again, the mandatory high intensity obstruction lights on large wind turbines have brought prospective wind farm projects to a complete standstill as landowners and neighbouring communities object to having their night sky ruined by the white and red flashes of wind farms.
This is frustrating for wind farm developers, as high-yield projects risk being heavily delayed or even cancelled altogether.
Keeping the lights on
A solution to the “light pollution” problem has recently been introduced to wind farms across Europe and North America. A radar-based system automatically activates the obstruction lights when an aircraft is in the wind farm zone. Once the airplane returns to a safe distance the lights automatically switch off.
Consequently, this system will keep the lights off up to 90% of the time thus making them less intrusive while still complying with safety regulations.
By introducing an automated light control system, wind farm developers are now able to vastly reduce the visual impact that aviation obstruction lights have on local communities and wildlife. This ability may ultimately be a decisive factor in helping stalled wind farm projects become a reality.
Boeing, Bat or Bald Eagle?
The Obstruction Light Control (OLC) system is provided by Terma and is based on the same advanced radar technology that Terma has developed for critical installations at e.g. airports for many years.
According to Henrik Bendix Nielsen of Terma, “The question is not whether we can detect an object; the question is, can we tell the difference between a legitimate target (i.e. a plane) and a bat or bald eagle?”.
The reason for this exceptional radar sensibility is simply that in order to deliver a stable and secure light control system, the radar must detect the smallest objects in even the harshest weather conditions.
Cutting costs by sharing systems
With wind farms in Denmark, Germany and the U.S. paving the way, a number of other wind farms – both new and existing ones – have been approved for the automated OLC system.
The flexibility of the system also allows for several wind farms to share a single radar-unit giving wind farm owners the chance to share the cost of the radar and ongoing maintenance.
“The OLC system is highly configurable. Why turn on the entire set of wind farm lights when a plane crosses the upper northeast corner? By separating the area into zones, we can just enable the lights in the affected zone” explains Nielsen.
This technology is beginning to make its mark in the US and the EU – all with the same great results: less disturbance for the surrounding communities, and, importantly, making the approval of new wind farms much more straightforward.
About Terma
The Denmark-based high-tech Terma Group develops products and systems for defence and non-defence security applications, including command and control systems, radar systems, self-protection systems for ships and aircraft, space technology, and aerostructures for the aircraft industry. Read more at terma.com.
Members’ interview: Nokia
This month, we sat down with Matthieu Bourguignon, VP, Enterprise Europe, to talk about Nokia’s role as a provider of private wireless networks for industries and their contribution to innovation and digitalisation in wind.
Events
EoLIS 2021 – last chance to register!
When: 4-5 November
Where: Brussels
One of the biggest issues we run into as an industry is how to deal with turbines at the end of their lifecycle. Most get their lifetime extended. But we need to repower much more if we’re going to meet our 2050 climate targets. So what’s the best legal framework for this? What about decommissioning – how do we deal with blade waste? And is there a way to make lifetime extended turbines more efficient?
WindEurope’s End of Life Issues and Strategies Seminar (EoLIS) will give us a chance to tackle all of this head-on. We’ll be gathering in Brussels this Thursday and Friday to identify best practices, agree on shared priorities and lay out the way forward. And we’ll be joined by experts in the field – from industry, from academia, and from Government – all keen to make a contribution.
So come along if you want to get up to speed on this. We’ve had a few in-person events recently, and they’ve all gone ahead safely. EoLIS won’t be any different – once you’ve got proof of a vaccine or a negative COVID test, you’re good to go! And you can sample the best of Brussels while you’re here!
Don’t miss out – it’ll be great to see you again!
Electric City 2021 – How is it looking in Copenhagen? We sent Malgosia on a fact-finding mission to clear up any doubts…
When: 23-25 November
Where: Copenhagen
Wondering how things are looking in Copenhagen? We sent Malgosia on a fact-finding mission to clear up any doubts…
We’re expecting at least 8,000 participants to be there, eager to learn, network and do business with partners from and beyond the wind sector!
Why do we think 8,000 people will be there?
1. The exhibition is sold out!
More than 380 companies have booked their exhibition space and are getting ready to join us in Copenhagen. You’ll be able to see them on the exhibition floor, alongside their contacts and partners.
2. We’ve seen huge enthusiasm and interest in joining our events already!
We have a whole array of Ministers and other top political and industry figures confirmed to attend. And three weeks ago 750 people joined us for our RE-Source Event in Amsterdam – the event was sold out! There were more people interested in joining that we were able to accommodate in the venue.
3. It is safe to meet if you follow all the health and safety regulations.
Guests just need to show proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test to gain entry. Health & safety is paramount – and it’ll be no different in Copenhagen, even though all the restrictions have already been lifted as of September and COVID is no longer considered as a critical disease there.
So make sure you don’t miss out!
Check out our latest conference programme for a full breakdown of the topics on offer. Make sure you have a look at the exhibition floorplan as well – with 380+ exhibitors onsite, there will be no shortage of business opportunities!
So what’s coming in 2022? We’re heading to Bilbao next April for WindEurope’s Annual Event – developed by the industry, for the industry.
When: 5-7 April 2022
Where: Bilbao
So what’s coming in 2022? We’re heading to Bilbao next April for WindEurope’s Annual Event – developed by the industry, for the industry.
Over the course of three days, our conference and exhibition will cover onshore and offshore wind topics and feature two large exhibition halls with 350+ exhibitors from Europe and beyond. All corners of European wind energy will be there, eager to catch up, to network and to work out how we’re going to deliver Europe’s new climate and energy targets – 30 GW a year of new wind instead of the 15 GW we are currently building.
So if you want to be at the heart of the action – now is your chance!
Our Exhibition Sales for the event are open and the major players have already confirmed their presence. Book now to get the space you want!
Click here to see our packages – WindEurope’s members are entitled to reduced rates for stand bookings.
Reminder: The deadline for our Call for Abstracts has been extended to 15 November. For your chance to share ideas with your peers and shape the scope of the Conference – send us your abstracts here (and check out our guidelines here for an idea of what to send).
ElectrifyNow: Which role for electrification in the Green Deal?
When: 17 November, 09:00-13:00 CET
Where: Online
The Electrification Alliance recognises the need to switch away from fossil fuels toward the use of clean and renewable electricity as the main source of energy for all our applications.
For this reason, they will host a dedicated digital conference “ElectrifyNow: Which role for electrification in the Green Deal?” on 17 November, 9:00 – 13:00 CET.
The purpose of the event is to discuss and define the ways in which electrification can be supported to ensure it becomes the leading energy system in Europe, as our economies recover and as we work to stave off climate change.
This will be a key moment to map out the next steps leading to the electrification of Europe. We hope you will be able to join this exciting debate.
Other news
Windflix – new installments in October, more on the way in November!
October saw brand new content uploaded to Windflix, our easy-to-access video content and streaming service. And we’re covering plenty of ground! Releases include:
- A discussion on the world of PPAs, and news from the corporate sourcing scene.
- A look at WindEurope’s market intelligence products, including the Wind Energy & Investment Tool and our report on Repowering Trends in Europe.
- Specials features on LM Wind Power and the Port of Esbjerg.
More to come very soon in early November. Just keep an eye out for notifications – and click play once you’re ready!
Small steps now could make a big difference down the line. And that difference could mean a sustainable future and a greener planet.
Small steps now could make a big difference down the line. And that difference could mean a sustainable future and a greener planet. By drawing on the know-how within our organisation and from among our members, we have put together a Learning Hub that showcases information about wind – to teach young people about the importance of climate change and wind energy.
We’re also publishing a new book which aims at inspiring kids to consider working in wind and the clean energy sector in general. When I Grow Up presents 21 different people, each telling us their own story about how and why they came to work in the clean energy sector – and why they’re passionate about it.
We’re sharing an educational toolkit, developed as part of our pilot project in a Belgian school. You can see what the students thought about the programme in this video.
The aim of this Learning Hub is to put all of this valuable information onto one platform and make it as public and useful as possible! So please help us to spread our message far and wide!
A big thank you to everyone who has contributed to this!
