Wind energy’s contribution to Belgian GDP has risen by 69% in four years (2007-2011), new findings show. This is a rate far higher than the growth of GDP itself, making wind energy a catalyst for Belgium’s economic recovery. The wind sector brought €335.3 million to the Belgian economy in 2011.

The figures come from a Deloitte study which also finds that national wind energy jobs have increased by 74% while the overall employment rate has gone up by just 3.7% (a figure 20 times lower) since 2007.

Stephane Bourgeois, Head of Regulatory Affairs at EWEA

It had the potential to be a battle, but in the end renewable energy projects look set to receive the lion’s share of €1,500 million of EU funding set aside for renewables and carbon capture and storage (CCS).

At least €1,210 million of the total should go to 23 renewables projects, including six wind energy proposals, according to a draft decision submitted to the EU’s Climate Change Committee meeting on 13 December. Originally, most of the money was supposed to go to CCS projects, but most projects failed to secure the necessary permits or additional Member State funding.

Alarmist headlines in the UK today proclaimed the “tripling” of energy bills to pay for “green energy”. But the scaremongering belied a story that is positive for the British economy, the climate, the consumer and the European wind energy industry.

The feature of the upcoming energy bill most media seized on was that energy firms will be allowed to triple the amount of money consumers pay for so-called “green” measures, including renewables but also nuclear power.

Current wind turbine design is revolving around the 6 to 7 MW capacity range, with increasingly large rotor diameters.

But why go for a 7 MW turbine with a bigger rotor when a range of 3-5 MW designs are already available?

“There’s an offshore market kicking off,” Anders Bach Andersen of Vestas told Wind Directions magazine. “and in order to make that market reasonably competitive bigger turbines are needed. With bigger turbines you need fewer of them and you can reduce both capital and operating costs. But with fewer turbines you have potentially a smaller swept area at wind farm level so you need to compensate for that by equipping the machine with a larger diameter rotor.”

“At a time of austerity, Greek citizens cannot afford to support practices which prolong energy dependence. The choice of importing oil and gas versus producing renewable energy within the EU, and encouraging clean energy exports among Member States, is obvious”, Greek Energy Minister George Papakonstantinou told Wind Directions magazine recently.
He also rebutted the myth that renewables are expensive, saying it was a view he didn’t share, “especially in regard to proven and tested technologies such as wind and solar PV, whose investment costs have been lowered significantly in the last few years.