“Political will” needed to drive 2020 vision for power supply

Date: 20/12/01

By Martin Banks and Laurence Frost

WIND power could provide up to two-thirds of Europe's electricity needs by 2020, a meeting of "green" industry leaders heard last week.

But harnessing the potential benefits of such a renewable energy will require massive political will from member states, delegates at the Offshore Wind Energy Conference were told.

Dr Eddie O'Connor, vice-president of the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), said: "Wind energy parks will be the biggest energy revolution since the internal combustion engine. The resource is there, the technology is proven, the costs continue to drop - all that is needed is the political will to see it happen."

Filip Martens, of C Power, a consortium planning a wind farm off the Belgian coast, called on Europe's policymakers to remove legislative barriers so that the "full utilisation" of wind power could be realised.

"The industry is ready to take the plunge," he declared.

But there were warnings that cuts in research funding could put a dent in the predicted wind energy boom.

Investors have criticised the sixth EU framework research programme for reducing spending - at a time when research is most needed. The funding guidelines, currently awaiting a second reading in the European Parliament, earmark €700 million for renewable energies including wind - down from €1 billion in the last programme.

"There's now a dramatic need for research funding for offshore wind," said EWEA policy officer Christian Kjaer.

With frequent local opposition to land-based wind farms, a shift to offshore installations is seen as crucial if the industry is to realise the ambitious forecasts of some energy analysts.

Offshore farms will supply 60,000 megawatts of power to Europe within ten years, or 750 times more than they produce now, according to EWEA, which represents over 15,000 organisations.

Among its members is Shell Renewables, which recently announced plans to invest over €1 billion in research and development over the next five years.

The cost per kilowatt-hour of wind energy has fallen by 80 over the past two decades and now rivals new coal-fired plants and nuclear power - which receives €2.1 billion from the EU research programme.

"Nuclear power has been receiving grants since the sixties, when the message from the industry was that it would become too cheap to meter," said Kjaer. "But that hasn't happened and wind and biomass energy are now far cheaper to produce."

Programmes in Denmark, where wind already supplies 17 of the country's power, and north Germany's Schleswig-Holstein - where it accounts for 25 - are proof of its economic viability, added Kjaer.

His comments come after plans for what has been described as the world's biggest wind farm were unveiled.

The proposals would see the construction of 250 huge turbines on the Hebridean island of Lewis, off the west coast of Scotland.

If it goes ahead, the wind farm would produce as much energy as a nuclear power station - and lift the UK from near the bottom to the top of the European renewable energy table.

http://www.ewea.org/ http://www.ewea.org/

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