Years-long wait for permits blocking European wind farms, industry says
By Kate Abnett
BRUSSELS, July 5 (Reuters) -Hundreds of gigawatts of wind energy projects are waiting for permits to connect to Europe's power grid, a backlog that threatens to slow the shift to green energy, industry association WindEurope said on Friday.
WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
Gaining access to the power grid is now the biggest hurdle to Europe's expansion of renewable energy, WindEurope said.
With Europe's power networks upgraded too slowly to absorb more capacity, and sluggish grid-permitting procedures in many countries, some projects face waiting times of up to nine years to receive a permit.
"The system is clogged up - and holding back hundreds of gigawatts of wind farms," WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson said.
BY THE NUMBERS
European wind energy projects with a total of more than 500 gigawatts of potential capacity are waiting for an answer to their requests for grid connections, across countries including France, Germany, Ireland, Poland and Spain, the data published on Friday showed.
Italy and the UK each have more than 100 GW of potential projects awaiting grid connection assessments.
The EU has a target to derive 42.5% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030. That implies expanding wind power capacity to 425 GW by 2030, up from 220 GW today.
WHAT'S NEXT
The queue of wind projects is at various stages and not all are likely to be built. For example, some are competing against one another for subsidies, WindEurope said.
Part of the problem is that projects are assessed on a "first come, first served" basis when they apply, meaning the most mature projects - those most likely to go ahead - cannot jump the queue.
Europe's energy industry has urged governments to spur investments in expanding grids to prepare for a bigger influx of renewable power, and filter applications so that projects that are ready to launch receive permits fast.
Reporting by Kate Abnett in Brussels
Editing by Matthew Lewis
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
