Daniel Fraile Montoro, Director for Market Intelligence in Wind Europe said in an interview for BalticWind.EU, that the European Union and all the countries, are committed to reaching climate neutrality by 2050. “There’s been many studies showing that the best way to achieve that is through electrification of the energy system. Electricity is much more efficient and allows us to tap into the potential of technology such as wind and solar energy”, he said.

“Our system is based on around 40% renewables. That’s not bad, but electricity is only a quarter of all the energy that we consume in Europe, the rest being coal, gas, and oil. We really need to change that dramatically”, he said.

“We have big responsibilities and a huge challenge. We can’t do this by ourselves in the wind industry, although we will represent 50% of the electricity demand in 2050. We need partners. We need heavy industry, transport, and the building sector. We need all the partners. That’s why we do such a type of event like this year. Electric City – that’s the theme. We bring all the partners together, we discuss with them, and we find solutions to meet the challenge”, Fraile explained.

By 2050 Europe expects that 3/4 of the energy will be actually coming from electricity, mainly renewable electricity. 

“57% of the final demand will be direct electricity, so for instance, heat pumps in buildings, and electric vehicles. 18% will be renewable electricity indirectly through the use of renewable hydrogen, and derivatives such as ammonia and so on”, he concluded.

The development of renewable hydrogen, produced mainly using wind and solar energy, is a priority for the EU. Renewable hydrogen is the option most in line with the EU objective of climate neutrality and zero pollution in the long term, and the one most consistent with an integrated energy system. The choice of renewable hydrogen builds on Europe’s industrial strength in electrolyser production, will create new jobs and growth in the EU and will support a cost-effective integrated energy system. According to the EU Strategy, in the first phase, from 2020 up to 2024, the strategic objective is to install at least 6 GW of renewable hydrogen electrolysers in the EU and the production of up to 1 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen.

Read BalticWind.EU Special Report WindEurope ElectricCity 2021