'Every second counts' | Wind sector calls for speedy implementation of EU package

The ‘wind power action plan’ launched by the European Commission on Tuesday was generally welcomed by the wind industry, but companies, wind groups and experts also called for speedy implementation and cautioned that “there is only so much that can be done at EU level”.

The plan provides a necessary foundation to build a European wind industry that is “resilient and globally competitive,” Siemens Gamesa CEO Jochen Eickholt said, adding that “every second counts now. We ask to immediately implement these measures.”

Specialist renewables consultancy BVG Associates said by naming the barriers to the rapid deployment of new wind capacity, the EU action plan should be seen as an enabling force that will provide top-down guidance to the individual EU states.

“However, there is only so much that can be done at EU level to mitigate these barriers,” BVG Associate Director Graham Gow said.

“Many of the barriers occur at national and even sub-national level, particularly permitting processes and grid connection processes, not to mention the fundamental requirement of available grid capacity.

“These will require significant political will within individual member states to properly and successfully address. Experience from Scotland, with their recently published Sector Deal for Onshore Wind, shows just what can be achieved at short notice when industry and government pull together.”

Need for discussion on auction design

Germany’s large wind energy federation BWE stressed that while the package includes a series of good proposals, how effective those are now depends on their concrete implementation.

BWE president Bärbel Heidebroek said the “wind sector is ready for a constructive exchange” as the European Commission had said it would seek a dialogue with EU member states and stakeholders on measures to harmonise the renewables auction design.

The BWE said there is still a need for discussions regarding the EU Commission’s plan to recommend non-price criteria in tenders, which could include a longer lifetime of installations, carbon content, cyber security, sustainability, innovation, energy system integration, or circular-economy measures to reduce the environmental footprint of wind farms.

Spain’s wind energy association AEE seemed to be more welcoming of non-price criteria as long as they don’t impact the cost competitiveness of projects.

“Through these actions, mechanisms to support and safeguard the industrial wind production capacity in Europe will be activated in the short term, in the face of the aggressive commercial strategies of third markets,” the AEE said.

The AEE also stressed that the wind industry must adopt emergency mechanisms that support the financial survival and growth of current wind industrial capacities, allow continued investment in R&D and allow governments to prioritise European over overseas technology.

“It is a matter of emergency if we do not want to suffer industrial decapitalisation in wind energy,” AEE general director Juan Virgilio Márquez said.

“The perfect storm that the wind industry is suffering is also historic, combining factors of rising raw material costs, long-unimaginable delays in the supply of components, rising financing costs; and all this at a time of greatest historical demand for wind turbines in Europe.

“Therefore, it is necessary to protect our supply chain and protect Europe's industrial and technological autonomy, in those vectors that are essential for our future. The European Wind Action Plan must be the urgent tool to achieve this.”

Level playing field

Next to using pre-qualification and non-price criteria, which potentially could shield European manufacturers from Chinese competitors, the European Commission as part of the wind action plan had also said it closely monitors possible unfair trade practices which benefit foreign wind manufacturers.

If an unfair subsidisation of wind-related products imported into the EU were to be found, the Commission would activate its trade defence instruments, it said, in what can be interpreted as a clear warning to Chinese OEMs.

“The Action Plan addresses the issue of ensuring a level playing field on international trade,” BVG Associate Gow said.

But he added: “While we recognise that this is clearly an important aspect of the overall challenge, we would caution that this should not divert attention away from the other challenges.

“In particular, predictability of future demand (both rate and volume) is likely to be THE most impactful lever for the supply chain over the coming years, alongside a consolidation of turbine technology choices.”

There is growing evidence that the race for constantly bigger turbines is now weakening the supply chain and introducing quality issues, he explained.

“The time is coming that rapid mass deployment will benefit more from repeatability than from innovation.”