Offshore
Europe's offshore wind potential is enormous and able to meet Europe’s demand seven times over. 4.3 GW of offshore wind were installed by June 2012.
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Economics
Approximately 75% of the total cost of a wind farm is related to upfront costs such as the cost of the turbine, foundation, electrical equipment, grid-connection etc.
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Economic benefits
In 2010 the wind energy industry contributed €32.4bn to the EU’s economy, almost 0.3% of the EU’s total GDP. Companies working directly in wind energy contributed €17.6 bn.
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Wind energy and the grid
The capacity of European power systems to absorb significant amounts of wind power is determined more by economics and regulatory frameworks than by technical constraints.
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Legal framework
EU directives in 2001 and 2009 have been the world’s most significant legislation for renewable electricity, enabling renewable energy to overcome the significant obstacles.
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R&D for wind energy
There is still a massive potential for cost reductions through market development and R&D for wind energy to reach its full potential for large-scale supply of electricity.
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Health & safety
EWEA’s work on Health and Safety is vital and necessary to reduce risks for personnel in the wind industry working on-site and to reduce environmental risks across Europe.
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Climate change
Wind energy today plays a significant role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Each wind-produced kilowatt hour (kWh) avoids a kWh created fossil fuels - on average 696 gCO?/kWh.
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Environment
Wind energy is one of the cleanest, most environmentally friendly energy sources. It has a long-term positive impact on our environment.
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Public acceptance
Europeans are more favourable to renewable energy than other energy sources, particularly solar (94%), wind (89%) and hydroelectric (85%).
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