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London, UK, Nov 17, 2005 -- M2 PRESSWIRE
The European markets for renewable energy are gathering momentum as governments across the region offer significant incentives and subsidies in the form of tax relief, capital cost grants and favourable electricity export rates to encourage its development and achieve more environment-friendly power generation. At the Kyoto Conference, for instance, participants agreed upon an 8 per cent greenhouse gas reduction target until 2008-2012. Since gases such as CO2 give out emissions, which are primarily caused by energy transformation, reducing such discharges necessitates a decrease in conventional fossil energy sources such as coal, oil and gas. This is possible only if RES replace conventional sources to a large extent or if the level of energy consumption lessens. Accordingly, the European Commission, in its White Paper on RES, suggested that renewable energies should constitute 12 per cent of the total European Union (EU) energy consumption by 2010. Following this, the Commission implemented various noteworthy directives such as the Renewables Directive of 2001, which established targets for renewable energy to increase its share of gross electricity consumption from 14 per cent in 1997 to 22 per cent in 2010. All these activities will give a considerable boost to renewable technologies, which in the past have had to survive on their own merits, unsupported by pricing concessions or any other incentives for producing clean energy. The market revenues are likely to reflect this, growing from $8,997.9 million in 2005 to $17,291.2 million in 2011 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.9 per cent. The increased incentives will spell good news for market participants, many of whom have long felt that renewable technologies have been discriminated against and have not been able to grow or compete successfully due to the unfairly low costs of conventional energy technologies. This is due to a certain pricing bias that favours conventional technologies. Conventional generating plants such as fossil fuel generators give out emissions that pollute the environment. However, they are not required to pay for the damage caused by such emissions. On the other hand, renewable energy generators produce safe electricity that does not harm the environment but are not rewarded for this in any way. However, the growing recognition among European governments that renewable energy should be able to compete on a more even basis and the resulting trend toward blanket promotional incentives is likely to rectify this pricing disparity. "Additionally, for competition to be effective, the price of conventionally generated power must accurately reflect the environmental costs incurred, which will create a higher degree of parity between the two sectors," says Mr. Kumar. "To this end, companies must maintain or increase pressure on governments in order to install 'polluter-pays' measures on utilities." Companies must also work at dispelling concerns about the return of investment (ROI) of renewable technologies. The high upfront costs of these technologies increase the period taken to recover initial investments. This is a significant challenge and often makes project development difficult for many potential clients, especially small and medium enterprises. Participants must aim to make renewable energy projects more attractive as an investment option. They can achieve this by highlighting successful investments of the past as well as emphasising the total cost of ownership rather than the high initial costs. Notwithstanding these challenges, there is no doubt that renewable energy technologies are on course to play a much bigger role in global energy supply. The various targets set in the EU White Paper are expected to be easily met and some sectors such as the wind power sector are set to exceed their targets. By 2010, this sector will have an installed capacity of 79.3GW in Europe, as against the EU White Paper target of 40GW. Total installed renewable capacity - excluding that of solar thermal - is likely to stand at 127.3GW in 2010. On the other hand, the biomass power sector is likely to fall short of its ambitious targets. Rapid growth in the wind power and solar photovoltaics (solar PV) sectors is likely to fuel future expansion of the European renewable energy markets. If you are interested in a virtual brochure, which provides manufacturers, end users, and other industry participants with an overview of the latest analysis of the European Renewable Energy Markets, then send an e-mail to Magdalena Oberland - Corporate Communications at magdalena.oberland@frost.com with the following information: your full name, company name, title, telephone number, e-mail address, city, country and source of information. We will send you the information via email upon receipt of the above information. Title: European Renewable Energy Markets Code: B535-14 Background: Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting company, has been partnering with clients to support the development of innovative strategies for more than 40 years. The company's industry expertise integrates growth consulting, growth partnership services and corporate management training to identify and develop opportunities. Frost & Sullivan serves an extensive clientele that includes Global 1000 companies, emerging companies, and the investment community, by providing comprehensive industry coverage that reflects a unique global perspective and combines ongoing analysis of markets, technologies, econometrics, and demographics. M2 Communications Ltd disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com. News Provided By |
