WindEurope’s board of directors has elected José Luis Blanco, CEO of Nordex, as the association’s new chair for an 18-month term.
The board also elected Alfredo Parres, head of renewables at Hitachi Energy, as its new vice-chair.
The election comes one week after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a new “Wind Power Package” to support Europe’s struggling wind energy supply chain, in her “State of the Union” speech.
The European Union wants much more homegrown and competitive wind energy to decarbonise its energy system and to reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels.
The EU and Governments have set ambitious targets – 420GW of wind energy by 2030, up from just above 200GW today.
Blanco said: “We welcome European Commission President von der Leyen’s repeated commitment to supporting a Green Deal “made in Europe”.
“Wind energy is a European success story.
“It is set to provide jobs to 450,000 Europeans by 2030.
“But Europe’s wind turbine manufacturers and their suppliers are under pressure.
“The EU’s “Wind Power Package” must further accelerate permitting, get the auction design for wind energy right and strengthen and expand EU manufacturing and supply chains.
“Otherwise, the EU will not be able to de-risk and increase the resilience of its energy supply and economy.
“The announced measures cannot come soon enough.”
The European Commission and European Parliament want to accelerate the electrification of Europe’s economy.
Parres said: “Electricity grids are the backbone of Europe’s decarbonised future energy system.
“Europe must double its annual investment in electricity grids to deliver a seamless integration of renewable energy in line with the EU 2030 targets.
“The EU must strengthen and expand its current grid supply chain to avoid bottlenecks in offshore substations, transformers, cables, transformers, and electrical switchgear.
“To accelerate the expansion and optimisation of Europe’s grids the EU must radically simplify grid planning processes and clarify rules on grid connection and curtailment.”