EUs konsultasjon i 2008 om vindenergi til havs

EUs konsultasjon i 2008 om vindenergi til havs

EU-tiltak for å fremme vindenergi til havs: rapport om den åpne konsultasjonen april-mai 2008

Rapport lagt fram av Kommisjonen 13.11.2008

Nærmere omtale

Sammendrag (fra kommisjonsrapporten, engelsk utgave)

On 23 January 2008 the Commission presented a far-reaching package of energy and climate change related proposals including a draft directive to promote renewable energy and increase its share to 20% by 2020. Reaching this target will be challenging and require contributions from many different new technologies. Offshore wind energy has the potential to play a significant role but exploiting this potential is associated with a number of specific challenges that might require further, more targeted actions.

This report presents the results of the public consultation on EU action to promote Offshore Wind Energy carried out from 24 April to 20 June. This public consultation was held in order to identify the key barriers for the further development of offshore wind energy in Europe and how to overcome them.

Overall, the 237 individuals and organisations who contributed to the public consultation have generally acknowledged the potential of the development of offshore wind and its importance to help achieve energy policy objectives of the EU, including the combat against climate change, increased security of supply and competiveness. A vast majority of respondents considered that actions at EU level are important in order to promote offshore wind energy. Respondents broadly confirmed the existence of a number of barriers that might prevent the potential of offshore wind resource from being tapped if not addressed. The barriers identified by respondents among the most important are in particular:

- The lack of integrated approaches as a significant obstacle to the identification of suitable locations for offshore wind farms.

- The requirement of permissions from different authorities within a country as part of the consenting process.

- The need for and/or construction time of onshore grid reinforcements to assure connection and enable integration of offshore wind into the European grid, as well as the need for offshore grid connectors to the wind farms.

- The current insufficient availability of reliable tested offshore wind turbine technologies.

- The adaptation of national support schemes to the risks and costs related to offshore wind energy.

A broad range of ideas for possible actions were put forward by respondents. This report explores the feedback in more details. The policy conclusions drawn by the Commission are set out in an official communication and not addressed in the present report.