After the June’s EU elections, it’s now time to inform EU policymakers who have just been elected about the current state of wind energy technologies, the R&I challenges that the industry faces, and what they can do to support the competitiveness of the sector.
That’s why on 26 June 2024 ETIPWind hosted its second public workshop.
50 experts from the wind industry, research, academia, and EU institutions gathered in Brussels to shape ETIPWind’s strategy to engage with the newly elected EU policymakers.
The ETIPWind Secretariat introduced the workshop with a presentation on the results of the EU elections and their impact on the wind energy sector. The European Commission (DG RTD) then presented the current research & innovation (R&I) framework for wind energy. As well as the key topics that will frame the discussions around the next EU Framework Programme on R&I, FP10.
Presentations can be found below.
For the second part of the workshop, participants split up into four groups for an interactive session. The objective was to define ETIPWind’s key messages to bring new EU policymakers up to speed on what’s happening in wind technology field. Participants therefore discussed:
- common perceptions that policymakers might have about wind energy technology;
- current wind energy technology megatrends;
- policy actions that policymakers should undertake to support wind R&I; and
- new ideas for ETIPWind to better engage with policymakers.
Key takeaways from the discussions include for example the fact that wind energy can be seen as a mature technology, mostly because the ongoing R&D efforts (e.g. automation of manufacturing processes, optimisation of O&M) are not visible for policymakers. Wind energy can also be perceived as a “controversial” source of energy whereas the benefits that the sector brings to Europe (e.g. economic value, jobs creation) are huge. ETIPWind should therefore work on raising awareness about the key wind technology megatrends and ensure that policymakers support continuous innovation and large EU flagship projects.
ETIPWind will soon publish a report summarising the outcomes from the workshop. So stay tuned for more details!