©European Commission
In November 2020, the European Commission launched the SET Plan 2020 report at the 14th SET Plan conference in Berlin.
The Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan) coordinates European Research & Innovation (R&I) covering the whole energy system. It has 10 priorities each with ambitious targets and a dedicated implementation working group. These groups include national governments, industry and research actors.
Each implementation working group (IWGs) has drafted an implementation plan’ draft that contains concrete R&I activities and proposes relevant funding opportunities for their realisation. According to the report nine implementation plans need to be revised. This includes the one on offshore wind. Moreover, the report says “there is a growing awareness that collaboration among IWGs is fundamental to achieve success”.
Since 2017 more than 1,200 projects, worth a total investment of €13.2bn, supported the delivery of the SET Plan. Most projects address one or more R&I activities indicated in the respective implementation plans. The budgets of these projects increased significantly compared to 2019. But it is still only 37% of the estimated R&I needs for the execution of all implementation plans.
R&I in renewables must come to the forefront of the debate on how to deliver the clean energy transition. National R&I programmes must be better aligned with the SET Plan agenda to keep Europe a global leader of wind energy. The revised implementation plans must be fully aligned with the European Green Deal and support Europe’s recovery through the Next Generation EU programme.
ETIPWind, together with the SET Plan IWG Offshore wind, supports the findings of the report. More R&I will help maintain European leadership and increase the competitiveness of the wind energy sector.
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