EUROPE is now generating around 15% of its electricity from wind, but an industry body has warned that it is not enough to deliver the Green Deal, which would see Europe becoming the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050.
Figures from WindEurope show that a total of 15.4GW of new wind energy was installed last year – three quarters of that from onshore.
The body said Europe now has 205GW of wind energy – 15% of all electricity consumption on the continent last year.
Its figures showed the UK (with 2.4GW, on- and offshore) installed the most new wind farms, followed by Spain (2.3GW, onshore), Germany (2.2GW, on- and offshore), Sweden (1.6GW, onshore) and France (1.3GW, onshore).
Germany, long the engine of the wind industry in Europe, was at a standstill, installing only 1.1GW of onshore wind last year – its lowest since 2000 – with very few new investments, indicating that next year will not be much better. Across Europe there were €19 billion (£15.8bn) of new investments announced in wind farms, covering 11.8GW of capacity, and 15GW of new capacity awarded in government auctions and tenders.
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WindEurope said the low installation figures for Germany were partly offset by other countries.
Spain made a comeback after a number of years with lower installations, and 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 WindEurope said 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.”
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