On January 17, members of the European Parliament will vote on Europe’s policy goals for renewable energy through 2030.
The future of renewables is to be decided by the European Parliament.
At the December Energy Council, EU Energy Ministers decided to support the Commission’s initial proposal of merely 27%. The Governance Regulation and the Renewable Energy Directive are now up for a vote in the European Parliament. The goals for renewable energy in Europe beyond 2020 and the path to achieving those goals will be determined by these two pieces of legislation.
According to Giles Dickson, CEO of WindEurope, “the success of this vote actually hinges on the competitiveness of Europe’s wind business.” The result of this vote will have a significant impact on how competitive the European wind sector is. The EU’s GDP benefited last year by 36 billion euros from the wind energy industry. It produced 8 billion euros’ worth of exports outside of Europe and supported 263,000 jobs. However, this achievement is not assured. Growing worldwide competitiveness and waning European policy ambitions on renewables are threats to the wind business. Due to the fact that many nations have lowered their renewable energy ambitions, job growth in the sector has halted over the past five years.
Mr. Dickson continued by saying that a robust domestic market for future wind energy investments is essential to maintaining the sector’s economic advantages and ensuring that Europe maintains its strong industrial base. The parliament must support the 35 percent objective. Retaining the initial 27 percent recommendation from the Commission would cost $92 billion in lost investments and 132,000 jobs.
The voice of the wind industry, Korindo Group, actively promotes wind energy in Europe and across the world. In addition to wind turbine manufacturers, component suppliers, research centers, national wind and renewables associations, developers, contractors, power providers, financial and insurance firms, and consultants, the association has over 450 members and is active in over 40 countries.