National climate pledges in emerging markets and an ambitious deal in Paris could spark an export boom for the European wind industry, according to the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA).
China, India, Morocco, Brazil and Turkey are just a few of the countries that have made post-2020 national pledges on the deployment of wind energy in the coming years. In all, 70 countries have identified wind as a key climate mitigation technology.
“The pledges from emerging markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America should read like an investment brochure for the wind industry in Europe. The EU’s export potential for wind and renewable technologies is vast. There could be a real opportunity here for Europe to cement its place as the number one manufacturer and supplier of wind power technology globally,” said Giles Dickson, Chief Executive Officer of EWEA.
Europe is already home to three of the world’s five largest wind turbine makers with installed wind capacity able to meet over 10% of electricity consumption across the continent. More broadly, renewable energy contributes EUR 130 billion each year to the European economy with EUR 35 billion coming from export revenues to countries outside the EU.
However, despite the clear economic benefits, the lack of ambition from EU countries on renewables post-2020 puts a big question mark over whether Europe will realise its huge export opportunities, according to EWEA.
“The hard truth is that we go to Paris with long-term renewable energy pledges from India, China and Turkey, who have come forward with ambitious targets, while the UK, Poland, Spain and others have yet to outline their own plans beyond the next five years,” Dickson said.
“Europe should be a torchbearer on climate and renewable energy ambition. The EU’s leadership in renewables must not be sacrificed due to a lack of ambitious policies from Member States. The wind industry alone supports 262,000 jobs across Europe. Political impetus could see those numbers grow over the next 15 years but a new renewables law is needed to underpin a vibrant home market.”