EU may probe foreign subsidies to support its wind energy sector

euronews (in English)

An action plan unveiled on Tuesday to boost the EU’s wind energy sector could trigger investigations into foreign subsidies where there is evidence of damage to European industry.

Transcript

00:00 Wind energy is a European invention and a European success story. But in the last two

00:06 years, Asia has taken the leading role in the sector. And the EU only has itself to

00:12 blame for this, in large part due to complicated official procedures holding back construction.

00:18 It`s why the European Commission is presenting new proposals to double wind energy production

00:22 by 2030. One of the elements of which is the dismantling of bureaucratic obstacles.

00:31 First we want to accelerate projects by easing permitting constraints. The EU has four times

00:39 more wind capacity permitting than under construction. This must be rectified.

00:49 EU member states agree that by 2030, the share of renewable energy should be at least 42.5

00:55 percent, preferably reaching 45. To achieve this, the installed capacity of wind energy

01:00 must be significantly increased from 204 gigawatts in 2022 to more than 500 in 2030. And the

01:07 competitiveness of European companies must also be improved. This requires that Chinese

01:12 companies operating with unlimited state support do not distort the market. Something also

01:17 addressed in the commission`s proposals.

01:19 This wind power package gives a good push in that direction as far as wind. We still

01:26 have very high levels of dependency on China, for example, when it comes to the rare earths

01:34 that we use in permanent magnets, when it comes to the glass fiber materials that we

01:39 use in the blades of our wind turbines.

01:42 The EU wants to ensure its energy independence and avoid a similar situation to what happened

01:47 with solar panels, where China now clearly dominates the market.

01:51 -END-

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