Europe to Exceed Renewable Energy Targets Set for 2020

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The European Union will beat the renewable energy targets set for 2020, according to an analysis of the national forecast documents from the 27 member states.

The analysis, carried out by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) (Brussels, Belgium), concluded that the E.U. will achieve its goal of producing 20% of electricity from renewable energy by 2020. Of the top 21 member states, 13 expect to meet their national goals, while the other eight expect to exceed their targets. Renewable energy is dominating the energy mix these days, with 61% of all energy installed in 2009 comprising renewable energy schemes. Europe deployed more wind power in 2009 than any other technology for electricity generation. Wind power accounted for 39% of all new electricity installed. For additional information, see related February 9, 2010, article - Wind Power Blows Strongest In Europe.

According to the EWEA, only six countries forecast that they will not be able to reach their national targets, but none of these countries expect to miss their renewable targets by more than 1%. These six countries are Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Bulgaria and Denmark. These last two countries claim that, with fresh national initiatives, they could meet or exceed national goals. Italy is bottom of the list in regard to meeting its renewable targets and admitted that, in order to meet its renewable targets, it will have to import renewable energy from neighbouring non-E.U. countries such as Albania, Croatia, Serbia and Tunisia.

"Europe has witnessed a sea-change since the 2009 Renewable Energy Directive was agreed. In 2008, many countries were stating that their target would be difficult to meet. Now the majority are forecasting that they will meet or exceed their national target," said Justin Wilkes, policy director of EWEA. "The forecast documents give a clear signal to the European Commission of where they could facilitate implementation of the Renewable Energy Directive."

Christine Lins, secretary general of the European Renewable Energy Council, added: "The clear majority of European member states recognise the economic, environmental and social benefits of promoting a broad range of renewable energy technologies nationally, as reflected in their forecast documents."

The top achiever in the renewable energy race is Spain, which believes it will reach 22.7% renewable power by 2020. Spain is followed by Germany, which expects to be 0.7% higher than its 18% goal. Others expected to exceed their targets are Estonia, Greece, Ireland, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden.

IIR Europe recently reported that confidence was high among many European nations in regard to reaching their renewable targets. For additional information, see January 28, 2010, article - Europe Confident of Reaching 2020 Renewable Targets.

IIR's Renewable Energy Database provides extensive coverage on the Wind Energy, Geothermal, Hydroelectric, Landfill Gas-to-Energy and Utility-Scale Solar power plants throughout North America, and is now expanding coverage across the world.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy related markets. For more than 26 years, Industrial Info has provided plant and project spending opportunity databases, market forecasts, high resolution maps, and daily industry news.