- New wind farms and a rebound in investments have raised hopes that the EU may achieve its clean energy targets.
- Last year, investments in European offshore wind jumped to 30 billion euros.
WindEurope has said that new wind farms and a rebound in investments in the sector have raised hopes that the EU may achieve its clean energy targets.
In an annual report, WindEurope described 2023 as a year of “significant improvements” in key areas of Europe’s wind energy sector, which struggled in 2022 with soaring inflation, interest rates and volatile energy markets after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Last year, investments in European offshore wind jumped to 30 billion euros, up from the scant 0.4 billion euros invested in 2022. The group said that EU countries installed a record-high 16.2 gigawatts of new wind energy capacity last year, around 80 per cent of which was onshore wind farms.
According to a lobby group, EU policies to speed up project permits have encouraged the sector, in addition to the bloc’s proposals to help wind projects access financing and index prices in government renewable energy auctions.
WindEurope said it now expects Europe to install an average of 29GW per year from 2024, reaching a total 393GW of wind energy capacity in 2030 – pulling close to the 425GW needed to comply with the EU’s 2030 renewable energy targets.
WindEurope Chief Policy Officer Pierre Tardieu said “This puts us within striking distance of actually delivering the 2030 wind targets, which are extremely ambitious.”
The organization said the biggest risk to Europe’s wind energy expansion is now sluggish investments in upgrading power grids to handle the fast-growing share of renewable energy.