European energy chiefs must set binding targets on renewable power until 2030 to ensure current projects take the right approach, the head of Europe’s wind power body has warned.
The demand comes just days after the heads of eight offshore energy companies issued a joint call for legally binding targets on renewable energy until 2030.
Thomas Becker, chief executive of the European Wind Energy Association, said that changes to regulation and markets across Europe were putting investment in offshore wind at risk.
“Even in forward-thinking Germany, there is now a question mark raised over the support for offshore wind,” he said.
“Likewise, a lack of political commitment and discussions on electricity market reform in another major market, the UK, are blurring long-term visibility. This is hampering investment decisions.
“There is an urgent need for policy stability, for political certainty and market clarity, for the direction and drive a 2030 binding target for renewables set at EU level would give.”
Becker made his call at the opening of the Offshore 2013 conference in Frankfurt, where focus on renewable energy methods has been heightened by the publication of an EWEA report into the future of the industry.
Currently EU targets require 20% of the continent’s energy to come from renewable sources, with carbon emissions and energy consumption also set for 20% cuts. Up to 17% of that would come from wind energy.
But the report calls for the European Commission to begin setting targets for the following ten years by the end of 2013, in order to provide incentives for offshore investment.
His call was echoed by Dong Energy chief executive Henrik Poulsen, who said set targets and not the Emissions Trading Scheme had driven the promotion of offshore wind power so far.
“It has been the binding targets and not the malfunctioning ETS that has been the key driver for renewable investments in the 2020 package”, he stated.
Last week, the heads of eight European energy firms – Acconia, Alstom, Dong, Enbw, Gamesa, RES, ERG and Vestas – issued a joint statement calling for set targets in renewables for 2030.
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