Meeting at the European Commission in Brussels on Tuesday 9 November, stakeholders from the European renewable energy sector called for a common strategy to provide the EU with a strong industrial base in support of renewables for the clean energy transition.
At this first meeting on renewables, the third section of the European Industrial Competitiveness Forum and innovation in clean energy, debates were opened by Energy and Climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete, and chaired by Dominique Ristori, Director-General for Energy at the European Commission. It was attended by a group of more than twenty CEOs, industry leaders and renewables associations and international entities (such as the European Investment Bank and the International Renewable Energy Agency).
Discussions focused on the vast growth opportunities arising from the clean energy transition and on ways to improve the industrial underpinning for renewables in the EU. There was wide consensus that, with an advanced, ambitious and stable regulatory framework for the period from 2020-2030 under development, a strong European industrial base in the renewables sector is essential if the EU wants to fully support the clean energy transition and be at the vanguard of these technologies in the world, explains the Commission.
Participants expressed pride in Europe's renewables industry, which covers all the array of renewable energy technologies and includes the full sectoral supply chain, from material developers, to technology providers, passing through project developers.
They noted that EU technologies, knowhow and knowledge are used throughout the world but an effort needs to be made to ensure that some sections of the supply chain do not leave the EU and that there is a strong, dynamic and unfragmented EU market for renewables.
The participants stressed the importance of innovation as the only way for the EU to remain the global technology leader that it is. To continue to compete internationally with high quality products and projects, Europe must focus on areas like power electronics, sector coupling and enhanced digitalisation. Worldwide market conditions should remain even-handed, with the rules for tenders fair and transparent, in order to guarantee that the EU industry and its project developers can compete on an equal footing.
There was wide support expressed for an increase in R&I investment in the EU, which has the potential to bring about an overall reduction in the price of RES-produced energy.
Finally, the participants agreed that agreed that a single European common strategy should coalesce around the industry, by stronger coordination amongst EU countries, renewable energy industries, developers of standards and research institutions.
The participants committed themselves to make the Clean Energy Industrial Competitiveness and Innovation Forum a constructive platform that will deliver real results, through a specific taskforce that will identify and develop key indicators along the value chain to monitor competitiveness and present concrete and specific recommendations.
A public event with all three sections of the Clean Energy Industrial Competitiveness and Innovation Forum (the other two sections being on batteries and construction) will be organised during the upcoming EU Industry Days on 22-23 February 2018.
This will also serve as a spring board to assert EU industrial leadership in low carbon energy technologies to be showcased during the ninth Clean Energy Ministerial meeting being organised by the European Commission, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, and the third Mission Innovation meetings in Malmö and Copenhagen in the week of 22-25 May 2018. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)