WindEurope Bulletin March 2020 | WindEurope
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WindEurope Bulletin

WindEurope Bulletin March 2020

Giles Dickson CEO WindEurope Giles Dickson

CEO Foreword

Dear WindEurope Member,

The news cycle is moving fast, and there’s a lot to discuss.

Industries across Europe are already responding to disruption caused by COVID-19. At WindEurope we are closely engaging with the European Commission and monitoring any disruptions in the wind industry supply chain as a result of the outbreak.

In terms of our own operations, we are complying fully with the guidelines set out by the Belgian government and the World Health Organisation. In light of the latest developments on the ground, the related travel bans introduced by several of our member companies, and because the safety of our delegates is of paramount importance, we have decided to postpone our technology workshop on Resource Assessment and Analysis of Operating Wind Farms that was due to take place on 23-24 April in Naples, Italy. The workshop will now take place in June 2020. We will keep you notified on this, and on all other wind energy developments related to COVID-19 going forward.

As you know, the United Kingdom has officially left the EU. It has now entered a ‘transition period’, during which the UK and the EU will negotiate the terms of their future relationship. The transition period will last until the end of 2020. During the transition period, the UK will no longer be represented in the EU’s decision-making bodies, but will remain bound by EU regulations and policies. You can read our Brexit briefing, and what it means for our industry, here.

You may have seen our video explaining the European Green Deal. As you know, this is the big idea and top priority of the new European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen. Europe needs to reach carbon-neutrality by 2050 – and this target has now been enshrined in a legislative proposal. So whoever is running the EU between now and 2050, zero-carbon is the goal.

The Commission then plans to propose raising the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions target for 2030, from today’s 40% up to a potential 55%. The EU may then beef up other targets and legislation too, such as the 2030 renewable energy target (currently 32%). They are also planning an EU carbon border tax on certain imports from countries that are less ambitious on climate. The Commission has tabled a Sustainable Europe Investment Plan worth a huge €1 trillion to ensure a just and fair energy transition. There will also be a new EU Industrial Strategy – and we want wind energy to be formally acknowledged as a strategic sector in this. The Commission wants lots more offshore and onshore wind. For offshore wind this means a new approach to grid connections and to maritime spatial planning.

But Europe is not currently building enough wind energy to deliver the Green Deal. As we outlined in our recent publicationWind Energy in Europe 2019: Key trends and statistics, Europe now gets 15% of its electricity from wind. Europe installed 15.4 GW of new wind energy in 2019. Three quarters of this was onshore wind, 11.8 GW, while new offshore wind was 3.6 GW. But climate neutrality and the Green Deal require Europe to install over twice as much new wind energy each year as it managed in 2019. And the growth needs to come from both offshore and onshore wind. You can read more about this, and other news, further below.

Giles Dickson signature
Giles Dickson

Business Intelligence Spotlight

Europe now gets 15% of its electricity from wind but is not building enough to deliver the Green Deal

Onshore wind farm

Last month WindEurope released it new report, Wind Energy in Europe 2019: Key trends and statistics. Europe installed 15.4 GW of new wind energy in 2019. Three quarters of this was onshore wind (11.8 GW), while new offshore wind was 3.6 GW. Europe now has 205 GW of wind energy. And it accounted for 15% of all electricity consumption in Europe last year.

The United Kingdom (2.4 GW, both onshore and offshore) installed the most new wind farms. Then came Spain (2.3 GW, all of it onshore), then Germany (2.2GW, both onshore and offshore), followed by Sweden (1.6 GW, all onshore) and France (1.3 GW, also onshore).

Germany, which has long been the engine of the wind industry in Europe, is at a standstill. It only installed 1.1 GW of onshore wind last year — its lowest since 2000. And they announced very few new investments, indicating that next year won’t be much better.

Across Europe there were €19bn of new investments announced in wind farms, covering 11.8 GW of capacity. And 15 GW of new capacity was awarded in government auctions and tenders.

2019 installations were up 27% compared to 2018 but the rate of installations needs to double to reach the goals set out in the Green Deal.

Low installation figures in Germany were partly offset by other countries. Spain is back big time — after a number of years with lower installations the country reached its highest rate of installation since 2009. Sweden also reached a record number of installations last year.

In France challenging weather conditions and administrative delays have slowed down the construction of new wind farms. But the industry is ready to deliver on the pace set out in France’s Energy Plan.

WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson said: “Wind was 15% of Europe’s electricity. But Europe is not building enough new wind farms to deliver the EU’s goal that it should be half of Europe’s electricity by 2050. Climate neutrality and the Green Deal require Europe to install over twice as much new wind energy each year as it managed in 2019. And the growth needs to come from both offshore and onshore wind. That requires a new approach to planning and permitting and continued investment in power grids. The National Energy and Climate Plans for 2030 are crucial here. The EU needs to ensure they’re ambitious and rigorously implemented.”

Read our report

Members’ News

Maersk Supply Service becomes WindEurope member

Maersk supply ship offshore wind farm

Leading provider of global offshore marine services and integrated solutions joins WindEurope, bringing over 50 years’ experience in performing complex operations at sea.

Maersk Supply Service consists of a fleet of 44 vessels, manned by more than 1,100 crew members and supported by around 250 onshore staff. In recent years, the organisation has increased its focus on offshore wind, leveraging the flexibility of its fleet and experience to engage with new customers, partners and markets. Maersk Supply Service is working toward the development of new concepts for installation and maintenance.

Floating offshore wind is of particular importance here; towing and mooring is at the core of Maersk Supply Service’s operations. Over the years, Maersk Supply Service has been involved in the installation operations of many mooring systems across various industries, involving all sorts of floaters, anchors and mooring systems in all kinds of water depth.

Find out more

INNTERESTING consortium aims to double the production speed of new wind components through hybrid validation methods

wind turbine workers hanging off blade

The INNTERESTING project aims to accelerate wind energy technology development and to extend the lifetime of wind turbine components by developing innovative virtual and hybrid testing methods for prototype validation of pitch bearing and gearbox components.

The INNTERESTING consortium (Innovative Future-Proof Testing Methods for Reliable Critical Components in Wind Turbines) is coordinated by the Basque Technology Centre IKERLAN. The project, funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, is focused on the development of new concepts and technologies for larger turbines. This includes disruptive technologies for new pitch bearings and gearboxes, and a third case for significantly extending the lifetime of existing pitch bearings. It will also define a new hybrid methodology to demonstrate the reliability of these systems without the need to build new large and expensive test-benches.

INNTERESTING was officially launched in January 2020, gathering partners from Spain, Belgium and Finland.

Find out more

Europe’s largest renewable hydrogen project starts in Groningen

chemical park Delfzijl with Eemshaven Groningen Seaports

A consortium of Gasunie, Groningen Seaports and Shell Nederland has launched the ambitious NortH2 renewable hydrogen project. The project will use renewable electricity generated by an offshore wind farm. It will generate 3-4 GW in 2030, and aims to grow to about 10 GW around 2040.

This would be sufficient to meet the current electricity consumption of 12.5 million Dutch households. The first turbines could be ready in 2027 and will be used for renewable hydrogen production.

Renewable hydrogen, produced with renewable sources such as wind energy, is central to the Dutch Climate Accord and the European Green Deal. At present, European industry is using large quantities of hydrogen, but this is mainly produced from natural gas. The NortH2 project thus includes plans for a large electrolyser in the Eemshaven, where wind energy will be converted into renewable hydrogen. The consortium is also considering the possibility of placing electrolysers offshore.

This announcement is the start of the further development of the multi-partner project to form the broad coalition necessary for making a success of this large-scale.

Find out more

RWE Renewables and Saitec Offshore Technologies test innovative floating platform solution for offshore wind turbine

RWE Renewables and Saitec's Offshore Technologies floating offshore wind pilot

RWE Renewables and Saitec Offshore Technologies have joined forces to test new ways to affordably install and operate offshore wind farms in deep waters.

In a joint pilot project called “DemoSATH”, the RWE subsidiary specialising in renewable energy and the Spanish engineering company Saitec Offshore Technologies will start testing a floating platform for wind turbines off the Basque Coast in 2021.

SATH technology is based on a twin hull made of modularly prefabricated and subsequently braced concrete elements. The float can align itself around a single point of mooring according to the wind and wave direction. The objective of the project is to collect data and gain real-life knowledge from the construction, operation and maintenance of the unit. The pilot project will last 3.5 years: 18 months for the planning and construction of the plant, followed by a two-year operating phase.

RWE Renewables will finance part of the project costs, contribute its many years of offshore experience, and gain access to the resulting findings in return. The focus is on the performance and on the load behaviour of the platform under all possible conditions. In addition, the partners are interested in operational experience, which is essential for the planning of future commercial wind farms. Among the things to be tested are safe and efficient solutions for vessel accessibility to the platform and for the replacement of large components. In order to be able to flexibly adapt offers for offshore wind farms worldwide to local conditions, RWE is testing other technological options for Floating Offshore in addition to SATH.

Find out more
 

Events

Important update: WindEurope tech workshop on Resource Assessment & Analysis of Operating Wind Farms postponed until June

WindEurope Technology Workshop 2020

When: 9-10 June 2020
Where: Naples, Italy

Please note: We have been monitoring closely the evolution of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. Considering the latest developments on the ground, the related travel bans introduced by several of our member companies and because the safety of our delegates is of paramount importance, WindEurope has decided to postpone the Resource Assessment & Analysis of Operating Wind Farms workshop that was due to take place on 23-24 April in Naples, Italy to June 2020. The event venue will stay the same: Città della Scienza, Naples, Italy. Find out more

Are you an expert in the Analysis of Operating Wind Farms or Resource Assessment?  Or do you have something to say about wind farm strategy, data and business model decisions?

WindEurope will be hosting technical workshop on all these topics in the same venue, at the same time. This means less travel for you and more networking opportunities for all of us.

Interested? See the full programme.

Register now

Call for applicants: Join the ETIPWind Executive Committee

ETIPWind executive committee family photo

Are you an expert in wind energy technology? Do you want to shape EU policy on Research & Innovation?

The European Technology & Innovation Platform on Wind Energy (ETIPWind) has 18 seats now available on its Executive Committee.

Deadline for applications: 10 April

Find out more

Free webinar: Wind energy financing and investment trends 2019

Offshore wind farm construction

When: Tue, 7 Apr, 15:00-16:00 CEST

The webinar will involve a presentation of the trends and statistics in financing and investments in wind energy in Europe from our most recent report, including new asset financing, refinancing, project finance debt, project acquisitions and green bonds. The webinar will also cover recent trends in corporate renewable PPAs in Europe, and the impact of political developments on wind energy financing.

Register now

EoLIS 2020: WindEurope’s seminar on End-of-Life Issues and Strategies

Wind farm sunset

When: 19-20 November
Where: Brussels

What: The second edition of WindEurope’s seminar on End-of-Life Issues and Strategies (EoLIS).

Save the date

Save the date: WindEurope Offshore Supply Chain Workshop

Offshore supply chain workshop

When: 24 June
Where: Brussels

Our Offshore Supply Chain Workshop will gather experts to discuss the main obstacles to the rapid, optimal development of the offshore sector in Europe.

Save the date

Save the date: WindEnergy Hamburg 2020: the world’s largest wind energy event

WindEnergy hamburg banner

When: 22-25 September
Where: Hamburg

Organised by Hamburg Messe und Congress and WindEurope, the world’s largest wind energy event returns in 2020. As we enter a pivotal decade in the global energy transition, this event will unite wind industry players from every continent to do business.

Find out more

Over 50% of exhibition space already sold for WindEurope Electric City 2021: Europe’s largest on- and offshore wind energy event

Electric City 2021

When: 27-29 April
Where: Copenhagen

Electric City is a unique event that brings the entire wind industry together with players from beyond wind.
We’re inviting players from storage, hybrids, shipping, mobility, the automotive sector, and many other industries eager to green their power mix. Electric City is where you will:

Stands are selling out fast. Check out our stand prices here.

Book your stand

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