WindEurope has called on EU member states to set clear annual build-out targets for renewables from 2031 to 2040 to ensure the bloc’s proposed 90% emissions reduction target becomes reality.
The European Commission this week unveiled its 2040 climate ambition, aiming to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 90% from 1990 levels, and reaffirmed its path toward climate neutrality by 2050.
WindEurope said the new target sends an important investment signal but warned that without enforceable annual deployment volumes for wind and other renewables, the 2040 target risks remaining “academic.”
“The level of visibility investors need will only come with annual targets,” the trade body said.
Last year the EU installed just 13GW of new wind capacity, far below the 30GW annual build-out required to meet 2030 goals.
WindEurope urged governments to act now on four fronts: permitting, grid development, electrification, and auction design.
It said national authorities must fully implement the Renewable Energy Directive (REDIII), especially measures that shorten permitting timelines and establish renewable projects as being in the overriding public interest.
Germany, which permitted over 14GW of onshore wind in 2024 – a sevenfold increase from five years ago – was cited as a successful example.
WindEurope also called for grid optimisation and expansion to reduce curtailment and lower long-term costs.
Direct electrification must be prioritised, the organisation added, noting that Europe is falling behind the US and China in electrification rates.
On auctions, WindEurope recommended a steady pipeline of two-sided Contracts for Difference (CfDs) to provide long-term revenue certainty and lower capital costs.
It reiterated its proposal for a “New Offshore Wind Deal,” in which governments commit to auctioning 100GW of offshore wind CfDs over the 2031–2040 period in exchange for a 30% reduction in levelised cost by 2040.
The group emphasised that CfDs are also suitable for onshore wind.
“The EU is going renewable. Europe is electrifying,” WindEurope said. “But targets alone won’t deliver climate action, energy security and competitiveness – national governments must now deliver volumes.”