February 2, 2024
Denmark’s King Frederick X attends laying ceremony for state-of-the-art wind turbine factory in Poland
Today, His Majesty King Frederick Participated in the ceremony. The new plant is the latest example of the industry’s commitment to expand Europe’s wind power supply chain to help achieve Europe’s energy security and climate goals. Governments across Europe must implement their own actions set out in the wind power package, as they committed to by signing the European Wind Charter.
The EU wants to deploy 420GW of wind energy by 2030, up from the current 276GW, to meet climate change and energy security goals. And the company hopes to achieve this by using “European-made” wind turbines. Europe’s wind industry is determined to achieve these massive outputs as governments continue to grapple with the challenges that have slowed the expansion of wind power in recent years.
Last year, the European Commission developed an innovative Wind Power Package containing 15 immediate actions to strengthen the competitiveness of Europe’s wind value chain. These include accelerating permitting, clearly setting future auction quantities, indexing auction fees, and expanding the role of the European Investment Bank in financing investment in new factories. Much of the action is left to national governments. 26 EU Member States and more than 300 companies in the wind energy sector have endorsed the European Wind Charter and formally committed to taking action.
Today’s Vestas factory ceremony in Szczecin, Poland confirms that the industry is already delivering on part of the wind power package. The new offshore nacelle and hub assembly plant is scheduled to begin operations in 2025, creating 700 direct jobs. Vestas has also just announced plans to open a second factory in Szczecin to produce offshore blades.
Together, the two factories could create more than 1,700 direct jobs by 2026. His two plants will play a key role in supplying the growing number of offshore wind farms in Europe, particularly Poland. Poland wants to install 6GW of offshore wind power by 2030 and 18GW by 2040.
In parallel with the introduction of a superior wind power package. The EU is finalizing negotiations on the Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA). A key provision of the NZIA is to improve the design of renewable energy auctions. Currently, most auctions are based solely on price. This does not reflect the added value of the European wind supply chain in terms of European jobs, security and autonomy. The solution is to set clear and harmonized pre-qualification criteria and non-price award criteria.
“Vestas’ investment in Szczecin is great news,” said Malgosia Bartosik, Deputy CEO of WindEurope. This will increase the resilience of Europe’s wind supply chain and help strengthen energy security. Europe’s wind industry has gone through a tough period, but it is regaining momentum. Today’s events demonstrate that the industry is doing what it takes to meet climate and energy goals. ”