On Wednesday, 29 November, the ETIPWind Advisory Group, comprised of wind energy industry CTOs, met in Amsterdam to discuss the strategic research & innovation (R&I) objectives and challenges for the wind energy sector. They were joined in this policy discussion by deputy Director-General Patrick Child from the European Commission (DG RTD).
During the meeting the group pointed out to Mr. Child that continuous EU support on R&I is needed to retain the sector’s competitiveness vis-à-vis conventional energy generation, to facilitate system integration and to further drive down the costs of wind energy. The CTOs specifically called for EU support on demonstrations of the technical capabilities of wind power generators to provide grid services on big data solutions for operations and maintenance and on innovative storage solutions. In addition, they presented the ETIPWind brochure When Wind Goes Digital, which provides a clear and synthetic overview of the potential of digitalisation in the wind energy sector.
The deputy Director-General welcomed the suggestions from the CTOs. He understood the impact of increasing global competition on the European industrial base and assured the group that the European Commission is committed to retain Europe’s technology leadership in wind energy.