Brussels, 17/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - Hosting the annual conference on wind energy organised by the EWEA, in Copenhagen on 16 April, Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt, flanked by political decision-makers and leaders of the wind industry, argued in favour of clearer rules and greater investment in green energy, with the European wind energy sector, a vital source of growth in Europe, as Thorning Schmidt described it, having to face the problems of a region in the throes of the sovereign debt crisis. “In times of crisis, political priorities tend to shift. There is a danger that the long-term objectives will give way to short-term ones. There is a danger that green ambitions will be scaled back. I know that this is a concern for the green industry”, acknowledged the head of the Danish government, which currently holds the presidency of the Council. But savings made in the short term by reducing investment may prove expensive in the long run, she warned. “We will save money if we use less energy. And we will save money by making ourselves less vulnerable to increases in oil and gas prices. The cost of doing nothing today will only increase in the future”, Thorning Schmidt warned.
Presented the same day by the EWEA, the report “Green Growth” stresses that the time is right to support investment in the wind sector, which has grown twice as quickly as the European economy. The wind energy industry increased its contribution to EU GDP by 33% between 2007 and 2010, with the sector bringing €32 billion to a European economy in downturn, but also created 30% of extra jobs (a total of 240,000 jobs) when the unemployment rate of the EU rose by 3.6% in the same period. By 2020, the wind sector could triple its contribution to EU GDP and provide 520,000 jobs, a figure which may even rise to 795,000. However, in order to ensure the anticipated gains, the EWEA calls on the EU to take on stable renewable energy structures, and energy policy which lays down a binding objective in terms of renewables by 2030, an integrated European electricity network and single market, an ambitious target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2020, and sufficient and specific EU funding for R&D into wind energy.
EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger for his part pleads in favour of a “stricter” European policy to support the wind industry. The European executive is deciding on a proposal to stimulate a better coordination of state aid and in favour of a binding objective beyond 2020. (EH/transl.fl)