Wind energy in the EU

Summary:

Renewable energy plays a crucial role in the context of EU climate targets and energy security needs. Wind energy will be central to accelerating the roll-out of renewables and the green transition outlined in the European Green Deal and the REPowerEU plan. In 2022, the total installed wind power capacity in the EU reached 204 GW (gigawatts), most of which was onshore (92 %). The European Commission estimates that new EU target of at least 42.5 % renewable energy in energy consumption by 2030 will require installed capacity to grow to over 500 GW by 2030. Although the EU is a global leader in some offshore technologies, the wind sector struggles with many challenges. These include insufficient and uncertain demand, slow and complex permit application processes, supply risks linked to raw materials, high inflation and commodity prices, more pressure from international competitors and limited availability of a skilled workforce. The EU has made several regulatory responses to these challenges. The recently revised Renewable Energy Directive not only raised the target for the renewables share in EU energy consumption but also introduced provisions streamlining permit application procedures. The revised TEN-E (Trans-European Networks for Energy) framework supports cooperation on cross-border projects, while the newly announced wind power package seeks to strengthen the EU wind industry and further develop offshore wind. The electricity market reform and the grids action plan are helping boost the integration of renewables into electricity networks. The net-zero industry act will improve the manufacturing capacity of wind as a net-zero technology; and the critical raw materials act addresses some of the issues linked to EU dependency on supply from third countries. The successful deployment of wind energy will also have to take into account public acceptance (which is higher for offshore wind), the impact of wind installations on biodiversity and the environment, and co-existence with other economic activities such as fisheries. In addition, more investment is needed in new technologies, such as floating wind and hybrid projects (combining wind with solar, hydrogen or battery production).

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