Eleven Chief Technical Officers (CTOs) from the wind industry have presented European Commission (EC) Vice President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic with a new study on research and innovation – known as the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA).
The CTOs from ABB, Iberdrola, Vestas, Dong Energy and Siemens met with Sefcovic at the WindEurope Summit 2016 in Hamburg at the end of September.
Five Priorities
The report, which was produced by the EU-backed technology platform ETIPWind, details five priorities for R&I in the wind industry. These include:
- grid infrastructure and integration;
- operation and maintenance;
- industrialisation for economies of scale and faster production;
- reducing costs in offshore wind; and
- exploring next generation technologies.
Sefcovic welcomed the timing of the SRIA as the EC plans to release its proposal for a revised post-2020 renewable energy directive and market design proposal before the end of the year.
Maintaining Leadership in Renewables
The SRIA report also calls for R&I in Europe to challenge the threat posed by other regions of the world, which are steadily gaining ground on wind power innovation and storage-related investments.
Aidan Cronin, ETIPWind Chairman, warns that Europe is fighting a losing battle to maintain leadership in renewables. In his foreword, Cronin wrote: 'As competition between technology providers is becoming fiercer in developed markets, high growth markets move to the developing world and European leadership is increasingly challenged, especially by Asian players. They are investing vast sums… and Europe needs to meet this challenge.'
The report can be downloaded from the Wind Europe website.
