Wind Power: a Victim of Policy and Politics?

As part of the Ifri Energy Breakfast Roundtable, a seminar with Antonio Lucio-Villegas,Director Oficina de Bruselas, Red Eléctrica de Espana, and Lykke Mulvad Jeppesen, Economist, Group Support / Regulatory Affairs, Dong Energy and Richard Cooke, Sales Director Wind, Solar & Biomass Power Generation, Alstom Grid (tbc). Chaired by Maïté Jaureguy-Naudin, Research Fellow. Project Manager, Ifri Energy Program. Discussants: William C. Ramsay, Director of the Energy Programme, Ifri et Jacques Lesourne, Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the Energy Programme, Ifri.

In 2009, for the second year in a row, more wind energy capacity has been installed in Europe than any other electricity generating technology, with 10163 GW, i.e. 39% of total new installed capacity in 2009. Gas was next at 26% of the total.

Wind power has a clear and demonstrated role to play in significantly lowering the carbon content of electricity. But its ability to play that role is being compromised by poorly formulated support policies and programmes and opportunistic politics. The uncertainties that utilities face in incorporating increasing volumes of intermittent power threaten the overall reliability of the system because of underinvestment in production, transmission and distribution capacity. Furthermore, while more-expensive renewable electricity may be a cost European citizens are so far willing to bear, current plans are likely to sorely test their willingness.

Wind power deployment has not been driven primarily by maximizing martketable green kilowatt hours at even the national level let alone the Europe leval. This conference will provide insights into the new challenges to our grids as wind power seems to already have reached a threshold in some countries.