Europe's Energy Future Changed Today
BRUSSELS, December 9 /PRNewswire/
For the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), the Renewable Energy
Directive, agreed today, confirms Europe as the leader of the energy
revolution the world needs. The target means that more than one third of EU
electricity must come from renewables in 2020 and wind energy will be the
biggest contributor. Moreover, the directive addresses existing barriers
that prevent Europe from fully exploiting its largest domestic energy
resource.
"Today tomorrow changed. The European Parliament and the Council have agreed
the world's most important energy law" stated Christian Kjaer, EWEA Chief
Executive. "Europe has turned away from transferring ever larger amounts of
European citizens' wealth to a handful of fuel-exporting nations, opting
instead to put the money to work at home and exploit our abundant domestic
renewable energy resources."
For the first time, each Member State has a legally binding renewables
target for 2020 along with a clear trajectory to follow. By June 2010 the
Member States will draw up National Action Plans detailing the ways in which
they are to meet their 2020 targets, which will then be submitted to the
Commission for assessment. They will report on how they are doing every two
years. These measures will lead to real progress in the 27 countries.
"The grid and administrative barriers whose shadows loom long over wind
energy project developers will finally be tackled throughout Europe thanks
to the directive. Furthermore, Member States will be able to work together
to meet their targets under stable market conditions, which will give
investments in the wind energy sector a boost. One can only hope that the EU
governments show the same degree of cohesion, commitment and clarity during
the global climate negotiations in Poznan over the coming days," said Kjaer.
The directive means that more than one-third of the EU's electricity will
come from renewable energy in 2020 - up from 15% in 2005. By 2020, wind
energy is expected to have overtaken hydropower as the EU's largest source
of renewable electricity.
Today, Europe responded to the global energy and climate crisis by adopting
a strategy to further develop, deploy and export renewable energy technology
to a carbon- and fuel-constrained world. The decision will also help the EU
face the current economic turmoil, as wind energy provides jobs, reduce
electricity costs, energy independence, imports and fuel price risks. It is
a truly historic day.
Agreement between the European Parliament and the 27 EU Member States was
reached this morning following a meeting of Energy Ministers yesterday.
For a more detailed reaction and commentary on different sections of the
Renewable Energy Directive, see EWEA's special briefing page. (http://www.ewea.org/index.php?id=1581)
Note to editors: the table below gives an indication of the probably share
of renewable electricity coming from different renewable energy sources in
2020. |