Can the industry keep policymakers focused on the energy transition?

Ian Griggs (0:04)

Hello, and welcome to the Windpower Podcast with me, Ian Griggs, editor of Windpower Monthly. The world is experiencing energy price shocks once again, this time caused by the US and Israel's war in Iran. We've seen policymakers respond to previous shocks, such as the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, by enabling an acceleration of renewables deployment. The energy crisis tends to fall back down the political agenda once the immediate danger has passed. An advisor to former US president Barack Obama once said, you should never let a crisis go to waste because it's an opportunity to do important things you would otherwise avoid. So how should the wind industry go about galvanizing policymakers around the world to maintain their focus on a rapid energy transition ahead of future fossil fuel supply shocks caused by geopolitical events?

In the first of a four-part series recorded at the Wind Energy Hamburg Conference, I spoke to senior delegates representing WindEurope, Deep Wind Offshore, DNV, and Perigus Energy for their thoughts on how to keep the energy transition at the top of the political agenda.

Christoph Zipp (1:16)

Good morning. My name is Christoph Zipp. I am head in communications at WindEurope, the European Wind Energy Association. We represent 600 companies across the European wind energy supply chain.

Ian Griggs (1:27)

Great stuff. Welcome to the show, Chris.

Christoph Zipp (1:29)

Thanks for having me. That's a really good question, Ian. So essentially, what we see today is that energy and security are fundamentally linked. So in essence, energy is security and governments understand that very well. So last week, was LaFondadaine, the European Commission president, she did her State of the Union speech. And before she started talking about AI, about Ukraine, about all these important topics, she would talk about energy. And she would say a few things that really stood out. She talked about the toxic dependency on Russian fossil fuel, and she pitched electrification as a way to be in a more secure Europe.

And lastly, she definitely said that we need to ramp up the build out of homegrown, competitive and clean energy sources. She meant renewables and nuclear.

Ian Griggs (2:18)

Yeah, yeah. So I mean, obviously, that's a policy maker responding to the crisis in that moment. But do you feel that that could fall back down the agenda, say, once the Straits of Humor become reopened, basically, and then suddenly there's another thing to deal with? How does WindEurope keep the pressure on policy makers?

Christoph Zipp (2:37)

I think there's two things. First, we are in sort of a poli-crisis, and on the European level, on the international level, this is very clear. We have seen Russia, we have seen Nord Stream 2, we have seen Ukraine, we have seen Hormuz. So the crisis is just keep coming, this fossil fuel crisis, right? And, and this is very important as well, Europe is looking at the eastern borders and whatever President Putin is doing over there, the Baltics are fortifying their borders. I mean, we're talking very dire scenarios. So as a matter of fact, being independent and having a homegrown electricity supply is top of mind for everyone in Europe.

Now, second point, if we go down to the national level and implementation, this is where we actually have problems. So national politics, they sometimes come in the way of implementing the very excellent EU initiatives. And what you then see is, for example, last year, if you look at the permitting figures, Germany way up and then all the other countries basically down. So overall permitting is not improving. And this is in a time when we urgently need more renewables. So clearly something's going wrong.

Ian Griggs (3:47)

Yeah. European will is there, but kind of at national level, you've got issues with implementation. Chris, thank you so much for talking to the Windpower Podcast. I really appreciate it. Thank you.

Christoph Zipp (3:56)

Much appreciated.

Knut Vosporten (4:03)

Thank you for inviting me. I'm Knut Vosporten heading up Deep Wind Offshore.

Ian Griggs (4:07)

Great to see you again, Knut. Nice to have you on the Windpower Podcast again.

Knut Vosporten (4:10)

Thank you.

Yeah, it's a big question. It's certainly an opportunity to act. We see that the countries where we are more active, Norway and Korea, is kind of the core for us. And these markets are in terms of energy security, in terms of being self-sustained, quite different.

Ian Griggs (4:30)

Yes, I bet you yes.

Knut Vosporten (4:31)

Absolutely. So some will say that Norway is benefiting from this. We certainly see that the higher prices of oil and gas is benefiting the Norwegian state. That could potentially have an impact, which could slow things down. At the same time, when also in Norway, where electricity prices are driven by the price of gas, we see that the fundamentals for offshore wind is becoming stronger.