The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has backed calls for expanded and modernised energy grids, socio-environmental criteria in auctions and comprehensive public participation in order to maximise wind power in the green energy transition.
A strong wind industry could improve the EU’s environmental, economic and social well-being, according to an EESC opinion drafted by Thomas Kattnig and adopted at EESC’s March plenary session.
Faced with growing pressure from international competitors such as China, the European Union needs to step up its wind industry and promote its wind power development, the document stated.
To achieve this result, the bloc must significantly expand, modernise and digitalise its grid infrastructure and, at the same time, it must create the corresponding storage infrastructure, it added.
Kattnig said: “The European wind industry is an important pillar of the green transition.
“Developing grids for connecting, transmitting and distributing wind power will make it possible to integrate a substantially increased volume of wind power into the energy system.”
Wind power must be seen as critical infrastructure, with all corresponding privileges and due diligence obligations, and all the approval procedures on tenders and permits must be urgently and fully digitalised and accelerated, according to the statement.
In addition, when organising auctions to determine how to allocate funds for renewable energy, it is essential to apply high pre-qualification criteria to make sure that all bidders comply with strict environmental, labour and social standards, it said.
Furthermore, EESC said companies should always abide by security, occupational safety, collective bargaining, social and environmental requirements such as the need to promote a circular economy.
Purely price-based auctions promote a race to the bottom that harms the environment and workers and puts companies that are eager to contribute, for example through investments in environmental and biodiversity protection, at a disadvantage, EESC added.
The European Commission should therefore recognise their important contribution in social, economic and energy efficiency terms by including effective citizen participation as the seventh pillar of the proposed Wind Power Action Plan, it argued.