17 yrs
EWEA Activities, BB200705

TPWind provides input to the SET-Plan

04.05.2007

On 22 March 2007, representatives of TPWind were invited by the European Commission to provide input on wind sector development up to 2050. This hearing took place in the framework of the implementation of the Strategic Energy Technologic Plan (SET-Plan). This hearing is the first step in a process that will end at the Spring Council in 2008.

The SET-Plan process is described in the document COM(2006) 847 final . The main conclusions of this document are detailed below.

- The world has entered a new energy era. The European Union should lead the way towards a paradigm shift in the way energy is produced, distributed and used.
- Energy technology has a vital role to play in breaking once and for all the link between economic development and environmental degradation.
- In combination with national activities, working at European level with an appropriate mix of innovation and regulatory measures has produced substantial results.
- A continuation of the 'business as usual' approach is no longer an option. The current trends and their projections for the future demonstrate that we are simply not doing enough to respond to the energy challenge.
- The Commission's view is that the increased budgets of the Seventh Framework Programmes (a 50% increase, from €574 million/year to €886 million/year), as well as the Intelligent Energy-Europe Programme (100% increase, from €50 million/year to €100 million/year) are a step in the right direction, and that Member States and industry should at least match this increased investment in sustainable energy.
- The European Union must act jointly and urgently, agreeing and implementing a European Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan) in 2007, which embraces the entire innovation process, from basic research to market take-up, and facilitating research and development cooperation with international partners.
- The SET-Plan must stem from a shared and inclusive European vision, involving all relevant actors. It must be ambitious in setting targets, but realistic and pragmatic in terms of resources. The strategic element of the SET-Plan will be to identify those technologies for which it is essential that the European Union finds a more powerful way of mobilising resources, in an ambitious results-oriented manner, to accelerate their pathway to market.

Following the hearing, the TPWind Secretariat provided a Framework document answering a list of questions. On the basis of this hearing and of the document provided, a draft hearing report will be issued by the Commission within one month (May) and sent to sector representatives for their comments. At the end of the process, the report will be made public.

In parallel, a public consultation process is currently underway . The input from this consultation will be incorporated into the plan.

The delivery of the first SET-Plan is scheduled for the end of 2007. According to the Commission, it ”will not be a one-off exercise, but the start of a dynamic process that will be regularly reviewed and adjusted to changing needs and priorities. To this end, the plan will also propose a monitoring and evaluation scheme, including technology watch and assessment and an extension of the EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard” to include energy research”.

The Commission intends to put forward a first European Strategic Energy Technology Plan for endorsement by the 2008 Spring Council.

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