WindEurope, the industry body representing the wind energy sector, emphasized the critical role of auction design in the success of the Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA) as EU Member States solidify their positions for upcoming negotiations with the European Parliament.
With the European Parliament adopting its stance in November and divergent views between the Council and Parliament, the final negotiations, slated for completion by the end of Q1 2024, are pivotal. WindEurope asserts that the NZIA must establish clear, EU-harmonized, technology-specific, and immediately applicable changes to wind energy auction design to effectively expand the wind energy supply chain, aligning with Europe's energy security and climate goals.
To achieve the EU's target of installing approximately 30 GW of new wind turbines annually until 2030, the industry body underscores the need for resilience and expansion in the world-class European wind supply chain. The EU Commission's NZIA, introduced earlier this year, aims to bolster and scale up European clean tech manufacturing.
WindEurope acknowledges the Council's endorsement of pre-qualification criteria in renewable energy auctions as a positive step but raises concerns about potential administrative complexities with 27 different sets of criteria. The Council's extended phase-in period for pre-qualification and non-price award criteria, covering only 20% of auction volume until 2029, is criticized for creating a two-tier market scenario.
The industry body contends that the right auction design is crucial for the success of the NZIA. Pierre Tardieu, WindEurope's Chief Policy Officer, emphasizes, “It's the only thing that matters, really.” He advocates for a limited set of pre-qualification and non-price award criteria from the start, including a clear criterion on supply chain resilience, reflecting the value of ‘made in Europe.'
The trialogues on NZIA are set to commence this month and extend into the first quarter of 2024. WindEurope outlines five principles for the qualitative criteria in the final deal: simplicity and applicability, technology-specificity, uniform application at the EU level, immediate implementation, and a fit-for-purpose supply chain resilience criterion.
Johan Hanssens, Secretary General for Economy, Science, and Innovation at the Flemish Ministry of Economy, adds that transformative innovation toward sustainability relies on cooperation between policymakers, academia, and industry, and ETIPWind's R&I Agenda will contribute to aligning visions and designing better policies.
