Offshore Energy 2013: EWEA Leads the Fight for 2030 Binding Renewable Energy Target

At this year’s Offshore Energy exhibition and conference in Amsterdam, Offshore WIND had a conversation with Anne-Bénédicte Genachte, Corporate Relations Manager at the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), which is pushing for the 2030 binding renewable energy target.

Offshore WIND: As we are always covering EWEA’s news, could you tell us if there are any recent updates that we should know of?

Anne-Benedicte Genachte: Well, from our perspective, what is important is the upcoming event on offshore wind energy that we are having in Frankfurt. There, we will focus mainly on financing aspects of the offshore wind industry, because that is one of the main challenges. We are launching an important report at this event.

Offshore WIND: Speaking in the context of your fight for binding renewable energy target by 2030, have you suggested any ways to fix some issues that the industry has with legislation and financing?

Anne-Benedicte Genachte: It is the same in the oil and gas industry, even though it is a different industry. The industry players are also talking about the need for legislative certainty, because they have huge investments and they need to be sure that politicians are not going to change their minds. So, we have a renewable energy target by 2020, and we are pushing for 2030, and that is a big fight.

What the industry can really do here is join forces. That is what EWEA is doing; we are bringing all the forces together to be able to win this fight.

Offshore WIND: Is the binding target for 2030 going to have an important influence on what is going on in the offshore wind industry right now?

Anne-Benedicte Genachte: Yes, it is, because the way it works is: if you see as an investor that politicians are starting to have doubts and are not able to commit post 2020, you just stop making investments or you just delay them, so in fact, if you have 2030 targets that will help achieve the 2020 targets.

If we do not have objectives post-2020, reaching the 2020 objectives will be very difficult. So, post-2020 has a big impact on the current development.

Offshore WIND: The European Commission has already discussed this issue. Do you know have they reached any new levels regarding the 2030 renewables target?

Anne-Benedicte Genachte: That will be discussed with the Member States, we will have Council meetings in February and March and then we will have further news on whether or not we have this package and for when.

Offshore WIND: Are the Member States much involved in achieving this target?

Anne-Benedicte Genachte: You would not have anything done without the Member States. The way it works on certain level is that the European Commission is proposing and then working together with the Member States. For instance, a directive we had in 2009 with the Member States included their joint decision on the targets. So, every Member State had a specific target and it is the Member State itself reaching and implementing its target.

It is the same for 2030. The ball is with the Member States, and we are working closely on communicating with them.

Offshore WIND: Do all Member States have to put their effort into this? Are there any of them that are not good in achieving the target by themselves, and if so, would that influence the European overall target?

Anne-Benedicte Genachte: For 2020, everyone has a specific target and each Member State must work on its own target. Then, obviously, if you have some of them reaching the target, and others not, yes, it is impacting all of EU. Therefore, every state must push for the target to add to the European renewable energy target.

Offshore WIND: How much can the offshore wind sector contribute to reaching of the renewable energy target, taking into account that not every Member State has offshore resources?

Anne-Benedicte Genachte: Well, every state has a target and then it develops the action plan. Thus, some Member States will take offshore wind as an important tool to reach their target, while some of them will not, because they either do not have sea resources, or they do not perceive offshore wind as a way to reach the target.

What we can say is that offshore wind will help in reaching the 2020 target, along with onshore wind and other renewables. We at EWEA are talking about 40 gigawatts by 2020, which can only be achieved if we have regulatory certainty and if further work is done on offshore wind energy financing.

When you ask about the 2030 target, what we see with the offshore wind industry at the moment is that the main challenge is regulatory certainty and also the access to finance. That is why our event in Frankfurt is going to have the opening session focused on 2030. We know that we are a young industry, which is now blooming, but we must have the 2030 target if we want to move on and reach the scale which we should be able to achieve.

We need to understand what are the banks asking from us and what is important from our side as an industry to take care of.

Offshore WIND: Will the offshore wind soon reach the price per kilowatt hour of that in onshore wind? Could you estimate how much longer until the costs reduce? And, does that have a lot to do with these targets?

Anne-Benedicte Genachte: We expect the offshore wind costs to align with onshore post 2030. However, offshore wind costs can only lower if we have regulatory certainty and 2030 binding RES targets.

At the moment, the wind sector is facing a crisis mostly due to Member States abrupt policies on RES. Opposition to the 2030 target is further increasing the uncertainty and drives up risk premiums all around Europe. The lack of a RES target would increase the cost of offshore wind energy and weaken the 2020 framework, while a 2030 RES target would decrease the costs of RES – it is in fact a zero cost measure, because we have 2020 targets in place.

Offshore WIND Staff, November 12, 2013; Image: navingo