European Commission: our current strategy will not meet 2020 climate and energy targets

The communication: “Energy 2020 – A strategy for competitive, sustainable and secure energy”, is expected to identify the need for energy investments in the order of €1 trillion over the next ten years and show clear benefits to citizens, with average energy savings for a household amounting to €1,000 per year.

“We share 100 per cent the concerns stated by the European Commission”, said Christian Kjaer, Chief Executive Officer of the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA).

The Commission will criticise member states for not meeting their obligations, with more than 40 infringement procedures reportedly underway on the second internal energy market package alone.

The Commission is expected to underline that Europe is lacking the grid infrastructure to enable renewable energy to develop and compete on an equal footing with traditional sources.

The Commission is expected to send on Wednesday another very clear warning: that the security of internal energy supply is undermined by delays in investments and technological progress, and will be further undermined if electricity grids are not upgraded, obsolete plants are not replaced and energy is not used more efficiently throughout the whole energy chain.

The Commission is expected to recognise that in 2009, 62% of newly installed electricity generation capacity in the EU was from renewable sources, mainly wind power and solar energy. However, the Commission is expected to stress that Europe’s lead is challenged by China and the US.

EWEA supports EU Commissioner Günther Oettinger in making a functioning internal market for energy one of the EU’s main strategic priorities for energy over the next decade. EWEA also backs Oettinger in his ambition to link the whole electricity grid system, from the offshore wind turbines in the North Sea and existing hydro dams to individual households with photovoltaic panels, and to make power networks more intelligent, efficient and reliable.

“Commissioner Oettinger plans to present legislative proposals to achieve these goals in the coming 18 months”, said Kjaer. ”The test will be the strength of these proposals and the willingness of national governments to support them. EWEA is right behind Commissioner Oettinger in the priorities we believe he will outline in his energy strategy, and we urge him to be bold in the legislative proposals that should follow.”

www.ewea.org/