|27 September 2016|
Europe
Adopting innovative approaches is key to Europe realising its renewables ambitions, according to a new report by WindEurope.
The ‘Making Transition Work’ report spells out specific policy directions Europe’s key stakeholders must take to ensure the continent meets its climate and energy goals.
It calls for more ambitious targets, to achieve 30% of renewables in final energy consumption by 2030 and more innovation to drive down costs and deliver the integration of renewables in the energy system.
Martin Neubert, Chief Strategy Officer, DONG Energy Wind Power said: “Climate change is one of the key global challenges in the 21st century. The solution lies in action, innovation and scale. We want to be part of the solution and we believe that offshore wind is one of the answers. Offshore wind has made significant cost reductions thanks to bold and visionary political decisions in Europe, continued innovation, industrialisation and scale. And this has been achieved through a dedicated industry effort, with only 11GW of capacity rolled out in just a few years. That shows the great potential of offshore wind globally.”
Giles Dickson, CEO of WindEurope, said: “Wind energy is no longer a nice-to-have add-on in the power mix. It’s a mainstream and essential part of electricity supply, now able to meet up to 12% of Europe’s power needs. It has also become a mature and significant industry in its own right, now providing 330,000 jobs and billions of euros of European exports.
“Energy transition means investing in new renewable power plants. Onshore wind is not just renewable, it’s the cheapest form of new power generation available today. It’s increasingly flexible. And it doesn’t take long to build.”
