Wind Europe 2025: Bridging the gap between vision and reality 

The EU must approximately double its electricity production at half the price by 2030.

Wind Europe 2025 brought to light several critical points and calls to action that are essential for the future of the Europe’s energy independence and security.  

The opening plenary set the tone with a powerful message: “We’ve been here before. We’ve spoken about this before. Now we need action.” This statement underscored the urgency of moving from discussion to implementation. Countries like UK and Denmark are home to abundant natural resources for renewable energy, and while the world is waking up to wind, Europe risks losing market share and competitive edge.

Wind power currently accounts for 20% of EU electricity generation, but to stay globally competitive, this needs to increase drastically to over 40% by 2030. This growth is expected to increase skilled jobs from around 370,000 today to around 600,000 jobs in 2030. However, the competitive pressure from China was also recognised. One speaker noted “China is doing laps around the EU,” highlighting the need for the EU to accelerate its efforts to sustain control over this domestic industry . 

Wind Europe 2025: Three Key Takeaways

1. Streamlining the permitting process

The call to apply the EU’s permitting new rules across the member states was loud and clear. Germany is now permitting seven times as much onshore wind as it did five years ago and to meet the yearly deployment target of 33GW others will need to follow suit. Additionally, it is essential to filter out “zombie projects” from grid connection queues to unclog the system. These are inactive projects that are stuck in the queue for grid connection but are unlikely to be operational.  We have heard a similar message from Chris Stark here in the UK around some of the battery storage projects clogging the system.  

2. Removing barriers to electrification 

Removing barriers to electrification is vital. Industries should receive state aid to electrify with renewable power purchase agreements (PPEs), not just on-site power. Moreover, removing non-energy taxes and extra charges from electricity bills will make renewables energy more attractive to consumers, speeding up its adoption and deployment. 

3. De-risking wind investments 

Further de-risking of wind investments is necessary. Establishing a stable pipeline of two-sided contracts for different options (CFDs) can improve cost of capital and revenue visibility, benefiting governments as well as accelerating deployment. 

The conference also discussed examples of successful tripartite agreements and risk mitigations These agreements have been successfully applied in corporate settings, with repeatable power purchase agreements making wind Sweden’s largest source of electricity. 

The Challenge of Scale

The scale-up challenge is immense. With a tenfold increase needed compared to 2024 to meet targets. The EU needs to double its electricity production at half the price. In 2024, 16 gigawatts were installed and to meet 2030 targets this needs to rise to 33GW. However, demand is lagging behind targets, stifling the supply chain’s appetite to invest. 

Competitive threat from China

Security, nationalism and the competitive threat from China were also hot topics. Currently, 80% of the EU market is serviced by EU companies, with an estimated output capacity of 32 gigawatts annually. However, Chinese overcapacity poses a significant threat in coming years. With an estimated three times the growth of the EU supply chain in recent years and a predicted 40-gigawatt drop in demand next year from China this will push Chinese supply chain companies to the global market.  

Directly linked to this the security of critical infrastructure and cybersecurity remains a major focus, with key EU players promoting a nationalist European approach. At the conference, Vestas cited long-term job creation and warned against competition from companies entering and exiting markets, subtly referencing foreign competitors. 

Balancing renewables, hydrogen and AI

The conference also highlighted the broader challenge of the transition to net zero – in particular, balancing production and use of electrons versus molecules. There isn’t enough funding to scale both renewables and hydrogen by 2030. Some difficult decisions may need to be made if the EU is to meet its targets for decarbonisation. 

Competition for clean power is increasing. There aren’t enough renewable projects generating and planned to meet both heavy industry demand and the growing demand from artificial intelligence (AI), necessitating tough choices. 

As such, data centres present a significant opportunity for renewables expansion in the long term, but also pose a risk to the electrification of other heavy industries in the short term. If EU steel and chemicals industries were to electrify, EU power supply would have to double. 

Key discussions on funding and driving renewable energy forward

The importance of increasing EU competitiveness, funding and CFDs were discussed across multiple sessions. CFDs offer capex savings – these savings cascade to consumers, a 2% saving on capex resulting in up to 15% saving for end consumers according to one speaker.  

The impacts of Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanisms (CBAM) restricts the supply chain in Europe, necessitating more funding for manufacturing and automation. CBAM can increase the cost of a turbine by approximately €900,000 if EU components are used.  

Managing electricity supply and storage is challenging, but tariff structures can encourage the use of excess electricity when prices are negative, helping balance supply and demand. Partnerships between heavy industry consumers and wind producers will be crucial in the coming years.  

Parting Thoughts

Wind Europe 2025 emphasised the urgent need for action to secure Europe’s energy future. The EU must approximately double its electricity production at half the price by 2030, facing immense scale-up challenges and competitive threats from China. Demand for clean energy to power heavy industry and AI is increasing, but there aren’t enough projects to meet the increasing demand. Therefore,  balancing renewables, hydrogen and AI will require tough decisions and strategic investments. Partnerships between heavy industry consumers and wind producers will be crucial to enable the scale up of wind in Europe, but action is needed now to maintain the competitive edge and ensure a sustainable energy future.