The IEA believes wind will become the electricity generation leader ahead of gas and nuclear by 2025 at the latest.
Across the EU, wind energy is the largest renewable source providing 11.1% of the bloc鈥檚 electricity generation. However, this is much less than nuclear (25.4%) and natural gas (20.3%) which currently hold the lion鈥檚 share. Solar accounts for only 3.7% of the bloc鈥檚 electricity generation.
The EU has 鈥渆merged as a leader in offshore wind technology鈥 that has attracted 鈥渕ajor financial investors鈥, the IEA noted in听a new energy policy review of the region.
In particular, investments in offshore wind farms in the North and Baltic Seas have made the EU a global leader.
The agency concludes that under already-announced EU policies 鈥 notably the听renewable targets under the Renewable Energy Directive 鈥 the share of wind and solar PV generation will exceed 40% by 2040. To date, this has only been achived at a national level in small and well-interconnected systems such as Denmark.
However, the EU still lacks a 鈥渟ystem-wide approach鈥 in planning terms. With the emergence of very large offshore wind farms, a 鈥渘ew era of system integration鈥 will be needed to account for green hydrogen and also large-scale transmission upgrades across the EU, the IEA states in its report.听
An EU strategy on offshore wind needs new planning processes that facilitate 鈥渢he integration of innovative solutions and offshore electricity interconnections among others鈥, the agency added,
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