Of the total figure, 10.923 MW of onshore wind power was added alongside 1,567 MW of offshore. The total wind capacity in Europe now stands at 153.7 GW, Germany having added 44 percent of the EU total. France, the Netherlands, Finland, Ireland and Lithuania all had a record year. Collectively, renewables accounted for 86 percent of new EU power plant installations in 2016.
Investment in new onshore and offshore wind farms reached a record 27.5 billion euros with offshore wind investments rising 39 percent year on year to 18.2 billion euros. Onshore investments were down 29 percent at 9.3 billion euros.
“Wind energy is now a mainstream and essential part of Europe’s electricity supply” said Giles Dickson, Chief Executive Officer of WindEurope. “It is also a mature and significant industry in its own right, now providing 330,000 jobs and billions of euros of European exports. With all the talk about the transition to low-carbon, things should be looking good long-term for the wind industry in Europe. But they’re not. Government policy on energy across Europe is less clear and ambitious than it was a few years ago. Only 7 out of 28 EU Member States have targets and policies in place for renewables beyond 2020. The transition from feed-in tariffs to auctions has been less smooth than we hoped. We still have dysfunctional electricity markets that are not fit for renewables. And we’re lacking long-term price signals to support investment.”
Mr Dickson added that 2016 saw strong expansion in Germany in 2016 but growth remains uneven geographically. Over half the Member States invested nothing in wind energy last year. Policy is key, especially with regard to the longer term. The Member States also need to start defining in their National Energy and Climate Plans how they will deliver the transition at national level. The Clean Energy Package is the blueprint for this. The Council and the European Parliament need to start working seriously on the Commission’s proposals.
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