UK and Germany set wind stage for 2015

• 9 years ago (2015-01-06)
• Junior Isles

Europe 1089 North America 1022 Renewables 777

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The UK and Germany both recorded substantial increases on their annual wind power records for 2014, setting the stage for further growth of this industry across Europe.

The UK-based trade association RenewableUK documented that wind power alone catered for up to 25 per cent of UK homes in 2014, indicating a 15 per cent increase from the percentage recorded for 2013.

Maf Smith, RenewableUK Deputy Chief Executive, said: “It’s great to start 2015 with some good news about the massive quantities of clean electricity we’re now generating from wind.”

On the other hand, Germany generated substantially more wind power, 8.9 TWh, than in any previous month in 2014 – and this is set to be broken again as more offshore wind farms come online through 2015.

This follows EU plans to legally require member countries to cut greenhouse gas emission 40 per cent below their 1990 levels by 2030. The planned ‘energy union’, or a single electricity market, will be intended to increase regional energy security, reduce power demand, focus on low-carbon, renewable sources and increase R&D and investment in the sector.

Jacopo Moccia, head of political affairs at the European Wind Energy Association, recently stated that Europe will see investment concentrate in countries like Germany, the UK, Poland and Sweden, at the expense of others in the east and south of Europe due to risks to investments.

Thereby, with the US political system bogged down with factional in-fighting, Europe is expected to make the biggest concessions in the UN Climate conference in Paris in December.