European Commission VP for Energy Union, Maros Sefcovic, met with 11 chief technical officers from the wind industry to discuss the new SRIA report.
A new report by WindEurope, backed by ETIPWind and other industry players, has set out five priorities for research and innovation in the wind industry.
The study, entitled Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA), was discussed in detail at the WindEnergy Hamburg event in late September among CTOs from ABB, Iberdrola, Vestas, Dong Energy, and Siemens.
The five areas of focus include:
- Grid infrastructure and integration
- Operations and maintenance
- Industrialization for economies-of-scale and faster production
- Reduced costs in offshore wind
- Next-generation technologies
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 in wind-power innovation and storage-related investments.
The VP for Energy Union, Maros Sefcovic, welcomed the timing of the SRIA as the European Commission plans to release its proposal for a revised post-2020 renewable energy directive and market design proposal before the end of the year.
Aidan Cronin, ETIPWind Chairman, said Europe is fighting a losing battle to maintain leadership in renewables.
In his foreword to the report, 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.”
Filed Under: O&M, Offshore wind, Policy
