Industry says years of waiting for permits is blocking European wind farms

By Kate Abnett

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Hundreds of wind farm projects with a combined capacity of 1 gigawatt are waiting for permits to connect to the European power grid, a backlog that threatens to slow the transition to green energy, industry association WindEurope said on Friday.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT

According to WindEurope, the biggest obstacle to the development of renewable energy in Europe is currently gaining access to the electricity grid.

Because European power grids are being modernised too slowly to accommodate higher power, and grid permitting procedures in many countries are slow, some projects have to wait up to nine years for permits.

“The system is clogged and blocking hundreds of gigawatts of wind farms,” said WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson.

IN NUMBERS

European wind power projects with a combined potential capacity of more than 500 gigawatts are awaiting responses to grid connection requests in countries including France, Germany, Ireland, Poland and Spain, according to data released on Friday.

Italy and the UK have potential projects with a combined capacity of over 100 GW awaiting grid connection assessment.

The EU has set itself a target of 42.5% of energy coming from renewable sources by 2030. This means expanding wind power capacity to 425 GW by 2030, up from 220 GW today.

WHAT’S NEXT

The pipeline of wind projects is at various stages and not all will be realized. For example, some are competing with each other for subsidies, WindEurope said.

Part of the problem is that projects are judged on a first-come, first-served basis at the time of application, meaning the most mature projects—those with the best chance of making it to fruition—can’t skip the line.

European energy sector leaders have called on governments to boost investment in grid expansion to prepare for a greater influx of renewable energy, and to filter applications so that projects ready to go live can receive permits quickly.

(Reporting by Kate Abnett in Brussels; Editing by Matthew Lewis)