The European Union has launched a 6 billion euro ($7.2 billion) research and development program that will help pave the way for the region to source half of its electricity supply from wind energy by 2050.
The key goal of the 10-year European wind initiative is to reduce the cost of wind energy to spur the creation of large wind energy projects worldwide and maintain Europe’s leadership in both onshore and offshore wind power.
The plan aims to bring wind energy to power 20 percent of the bloc’s electricity by 2020, 33 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2050. Europe also aims to slash emissions by 20 percent over the next 10 years.
The program also envisions 250,000 jobs in Europe’s wind energy sector by 2020.
The program was developed by the European Wind Energy Technology Platform or TPWind, a government wind research network made up of roughly150 wind energy researchers and experts representing the major E.U. players of the sector.
To reach its aims, the program will focus on four areas – improving the design and layout of wind farms, increasing wind turbine efficiency, improving turbine assembly and developing new methods of grid management to enable large amounts of wind power to be connected to the grid.
The new initiative is part of TPWind’s goal to boost European wind research effort, whose total funding is equivalent to 3 percent of the bloc’s gross domestic product by 2010.
The European Wind Energy Association estimates that implementing the wind energy roadmap will require an annual investment of 600 million euros. Of the 6 billion euros over 10 years, 24 percent or 1.4 billion euros will be spent during the program’s first phase starting this year until 2012.
Funding
The private wind sector will be required to contribute 52 percent of the first phase budget, followed by the E.U. at 31 percent and member states with 17 percent.
The public funding mechanisms for the initiative’s first phase include the European strategic energy technology plan; European Investment Bank instruments such as its renewable energy and Marguerite Fund; the Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund; the competitiveness and innovation framework program; and individual country programs.
The strategic energy technology plan, created in November 2007, aims to increase, coordinate and focus the E.U.’s support on key low-carbon energy technologies such as wind power. On its own, it has allotted 6 billion euros out of its planned 71.5 billion euro budget for the wind sector.
EWEA said the new wind initiative will give European companies a competitive boost if it becomes appropriately funded.
“The European wind initiative is a big step forward in our efforts to maintain and strengthen Europe’s global leadership in wind energy technology,’ said Christian Kjaer, the wind association’s chief executive.
“The industry is ready to invest in accelerated research and development but the challenge is for the European Commission to come up with a plan to ensure its contribution.”
However, Mr. Kjaer admits that the European Union still lags behind other nations on research and development in renewable energy.
“Other regions of the world are investing significantly more in public research than the E.U. and its member states and it remains to be seen how the European Union will make its contribution,” he said.
