BWEA: UK Can Meet EU Target with More Wind

http://www.renewableaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=49645

The UK renewable energy industry can meet the European Union target of generating 20 percent of the region's electricity from renewable resources by 2020 with effective government support, said the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA)in a recent statement.

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Accelerating new site awards for offshore wind. The UK wind industry estimates that it could realistically supply 20 GW (approximately 17 percent of the UK’s electricity capacity) by 2020 from offshore wind alone.

Expanding the Renewables Obligation (RO) further to encourage investment, by extending its life beyond 2027 and raising support above 20 percent by 2020. Analysts believe that up to £30bn of investment is available for new offshore wind energy projects over the next 15 years, and the RO is the key to unlocking this.

Unblocking the logjam in the onshore planning system which currently holds the equivalent of 6 percent of potential UK electricity supply. If just one quarter of these projects were approved within the next 6 months, said BWEA, the 10 percent renewable electricity target could be more than met by 2010.

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