EU Energy Minister John Hayes

It’s been a tumultuous week for the wind power sector in the UK with reports and developments underscoring the industry’s benefits while a furor was breaking out over whether Energy Minister John Hayes had overstepped his position on the popular renewable technology.

By Thursday, Green Party MP Caroline Lucas was wondering publicly if Hayes’s mis-directed anti-wind farm views allow the new Conservative energy minister to even have a future in Britain’s energy department.

Lucas, in a Guardian story, said Hayes’s comments “represent the latest intervention in a co-ordinated campaign by an anti-renewables lobby with vested interests in propping up the declining fossil fuel industries. They peddle a number of myths – on effectiveness, cost and public opinion – which must be challenged.”

EWEA staff on a wind turbine visit

On a recent late-October morning, EWEA staff set off early from our offices in Brussels to visit a wind farm. For many of us, it would the first time to get so close to the energy-producing giants that we spend our time promoting. The sun rose and we were confronted with a thick blanket of fog, which did not lift during the two hour drive to the Europarc, near Aachen in Germany. Not the best weather for viewing wind turbines. But we persevered.

Descending from the bus at the Europarc in Vetschau, we suddenly found ourselves at the base of a gigantic turbine, a 1.5 MW Enercon machine with a 66 metre rotor diameter. The blades were spinning silently in the breeze, shrouded by fog. This was an unusual turbine, specially designed for visiting, with a viewing platform on top and a safety ladder on the outside, allowing space for groups to climb the 65 metres to the top on a staircase inside. Within the turbine there were several floor levels off the stairs, for catching your breath on the 300 steps and listening to explanations on the construction of the turbine by our knowledgeable guide, Pieter De Greef from Windvision. The turbine is the same weight as 30 African elephants!

The WWF logo

Recently some national governments in Europe have made changes to their support mechanisms for renewable energies that have created an environment of insecurity for the wind energy sector. However, a new report by the WWF says that such policies create needed certainty for renewable energy investors, backing up a view held by EWEA.

Uncertainty about future policy support for renewable energy in key markets such as the UK, Italy and France has contributed to a notable drop in investment levels across the EU. However, On Picking Winners, a report written by Dr Rob Gross of Imperial College London, argues that given the numerous benefits of renewable energy, it is vital that the EU and its member state governments provide the support needed to ensure it plays its full part in decarbonising the EU’s energy system.

“Without targeted and proportionate policies supporting our renewables industry, we will miss out on the opportunity rapidly to reduce the costs of emerging renewable technologies, and will fail to capitalise on the promising economic growth opportunities that the sector has to offer in the EU,” says Imke Lübbeke, Senior Renewable Energy Policy Officer at WWF European Policy Office.

Francesco Starace, EWEA 2013 Chair and CEO of Enel Green Power SpA

With three months to go until Vienna becomes a hive of wind energy activity at the EWEA Annual Event, we caught up with Conference Chair Francesco Starace, CEO of Enel Green Power SpA, to find out what he thinks is hot in wind energy right now…

How would you describe the current wind power market in Europe and what do you think the short-term outlook is?

The context where the EU wind industry is currently operating is one of economic downturn. Yet, the strong links between economic activity, energy supply and demand and energy investments, make it more difficult to understand the condition and timing of recovery. It will likely take other three or four years for the EU economy to recover and for the gap between power supply and demand to close and until that time major growing opportunities will be unlikely in mature European Markets. Despite the concerns on the short term outlook, positive signals are coming from promising markets in Eastern Europe. Meanwhile there is still room for EU member states to stimulate growth in renewables by making progress on the targets planned for 2020 in National Renewable Energy Action Plans through increasing coordination and a sound policy framework at European and national level.

A new UK-wide poll indicating that more than two-thirds of respondents would favour a community-owned wind turbine close to their home rather than a shale gas well is bound to raise questions about Chancellor George Osborne’s proposed “dash for gas.”

The Guardian reported Tuesday that the poll, conducted by ICM Survey, shows only coal and nuclear are less popular that shale gas.

When asked to choose between having the two energy sources within two miles of their home, the Guardian noted, 67% of respondents favoured a turbine, compared to just 11% who would support the gas development.