Bureaucracy must not stand in the way of offshore wind

15.02.2022 15:26

Bureaucracy must not stand in the way of offshore wind

Offshore wind farm in Denmark

"The answer is blowing in the wind" is an old Bob Dylan song from before I was born. The chorus is universal, for there is truly a lot in this world where the answer is not something you can look up in an Excel sheet. Indeed, we are today looking at how to draw more renewable energy from offshore wind.

We need to have the production of offshore wind energy raised from the current 12 GW to 300 GW by 2050, something that will cost approximately €800 billion. This underlines the importance of making offshore wind projects attractive to private investors. Offshore wind is not just about green electricity for electrifying our cars and homes. Offshore wind is also a prerequisite for us to accelerate the development, and scaling of, green hydrogen, which is crucial for CO2 reduction in heavy transport and in energy-intensive industries.

A few weeks ago, the European Parliament's Energy Committee approved a Report showing how the EU's offshore wind strategy can be implemented. I have been in charge of the negotiations on behalf of my parliamentary Group, the EPP Group. Today, 15 February 2022, the plenary of Parliament will vote on the Report, and then the European Commission can begin with the practical work on what is needed in terms of the adjustment of existing laws and regulations.

As far as offshore wind is concerned, the production of renewable energy is not the only thing that takes place at sea: fishermen, the military, and biodiversity coexist with it, each with their own important function, which cannot be pushed aside. They must all fit together, and luckily, the sea around the EU also has many opportunities.

The road to more offshore wind depends on permits for the projects and these permits must become easier to obtain. The permits must be prepared with the necessary thoroughness, which ensures that we do not, as a minimum, transfer burdens to the environment of the next generation. That is why I am particularly pleased that the Report emphasises the full life cycle approach to the production methods. Burying used turbine blades is not the way to a sustainable future.

In the negotiations on the EU's offshore wind strategy, it was repeatedly noted that permits could be granted automatically if there had been no active objections to them for a given and preferably not too long period of time. If you are a fan of more autonomy for the EU, this is the right way to go. But I am quite sure that the whole offshore wind ambition would hit a wall of citizen and stakeholder resistance and insecurity from investors. So, I fought against this.

Fortunately, there was also a majority to point out that the permitting processes need to be done faster, albeit not with the use of coercion and automation. The EU is a democratic union in word and deed. This means that, in practice, we pay homage to the dialogue with the relevant stakeholders and experts. This means that there will be openness and transparency in the processes thus creating a conducive debate surrounding the green transition.

The EU's offshore wind strategy is part of the many instruments for achieving the climate goals in the EU's Climate Act and the EU's contribution to the Paris Agreement. It must ensure that investments pick up speed so that the wind turbines can turn as soon as possible. The way we approach this task also shows the rest of the world how the green transition is best tackled and how the offshore wind strategy also creates more growth and development for European economies.

The green transition is coming. But at the same time, it is impossible to implement without a healthy economy, which enables us to afford research and development for climate-friendly energy, including its path from solar panels or wind turbines to our new heat pump or electric car.

Note to editors

The EPP Group is the largest political group in the European Parliament with 177 Members from all EU Member States

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