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| European Renewable Energy Markets
| | 10/01/05, 9257 | | From ResearchAndMarkets.com | |
EU Targets for Renewables Set to Drive Market Renewable energy sources (RES) are receiving a considerable boost, particularly in western Europe. Countries are forming individual policies and establishing incentives to promote RES, in addition to clearly defined targets set by the European Union (EU). At the Kyoto Conference, participants decided on an 8 percent greenhouse gas reduction target until 2008-2012. Reducing CO2 emissions - which are chiefly caused by energy transformation - calls for a decrease in conventional fossil energy sources such as coal, oil, and gas. This is possible only if RES replace conventional sources to a greater extent or if the energy consumption decreases. To this end, the European Commission in its White Paper for RES recommended that RES achieve a share of 12 percent of total EU energy consumption by 2010. Later, the Commission implemented several directives including the Renewables Directive of 2001, which set targets for renewable energy to increase its share of gross electricity consumption from 14 percent in 1997 to 22 percent in 2010. This Frost & Sullivan research service is an in-depth analysis of the European renewable energy markets. Through exhaustive revenue forecasts, it gives participants a realistic picture of the market over the next few years and thereby aids them in formulating short-term and long-term business plans. The study also includes a detailed competitive analysis that aids companies in benchmarking themselves against the winning strategies employed by leading participants. Increasing Support of European Governments Critical to Growth Many governments of the western European countries are offering substantial incentives to renewable energy in the form of tax relief, capital cost grants, and favourable electricity export rates. These grants can offset the greater amount of capital required to set up renewable energy plants such as those for biomass power. Moreover, they will help governments promote such technologies on economic grounds and encourage plant installations at the lowest relative cost with the aim of achieving more environment-friendly power generation. However, government subsidies are not consistent across Europe, and this makes conventional power projects more cost-effective than renewable energy in many countries. Therefore, it is imperative that companies strive to achieve the lowest costs by any means to compete effectively with alternative generating technologies, says the analyst of this research service. Renewable technologies must ultimately stand alone without the prop of subsidies. Wind Power Segment Helps Market Meet Overall EU White Paper Targets The 1997 EU White Paper on RES aimed to increase the share of electricity produced from RES, including large hydro, from 14.3 percent in 1995 to 23.5 percent in 2010. Frost & Sullivan is optimistic that these targets will be achieved at an overall level and forecasts total installed renewable capacity - exclusive of solar thermal capacity - to stand at 127.3GW in 2010. This is largely due to the considerable development in the wind power segment, which is expected to have an installed capacity of 79.3GW in Europe by 2010, almost twice the target set for EU-15 nations. While solar photovoltaics' installed capacity is also expected to exceed its targets, geothermal, small hydro, biomass and solar thermal installations are expected to fall short of their targets. | |
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