Kay Hobbs and Simon Courie, TLT, UK, and Harald Wiersema, Holla, the Netherlands, look at the recent trends and developments in Europe’s renewables industry, and how the landscape for clean energy in the region is changing.
2
020 was a year to remember in many ways and not for the best reasons, but from an energy standpoint, there was one encouraging statistic to emerge. For the first time ever, more electricity was generated by clean energy sources across Europe than by fossil fuels (38% vs 37%), according to a report by think tanks Ember and Agora Energiewende, with Germany, Spain, and the UK achieving this balance at a national level. Is this a sign that the pledge made back in 2014 by former European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to make the EU the “world number one in renewables” is coming to fruition? With the climate crisis becoming ever more urgent, and with the Paris Agreement ambitiously aiming to cap global warming at 1.5˚C above preindustrial levels, many people will be hoping so. Analysis by management consultancy Kearney estimates that energy companies are planning to invest up to €1 trillion in clean energy by the end of this decade, and many other sources of investment and
4
ENERGY GLOBAL SUMMER 2021
