Posted on October, 25 2016

The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Renewable Energy Medium-Term Market Report published today shows that a global electricity transition is well underway in  many key regions of the world. Europe, however, is now losing ground in the global race to deploy renewables, and is set to fall to third position behind China and the US in the next five years.

According to the IEA report, renewable energy capacity in the European Union is forecast to grow by a mere 23% by 2021 [1] - well below its 62% recorded growth in the last 6 years -   as a result of persistent policy uncertainty in a number of key European countries [2], weak electricity demand growth, as well as pending EU legislation on renewables, market design, and governance of 2030 targets.

The United States, by contrast,  has now become the second-largest growing market for the first time, with 107 GW of new additions expected by 2021, mostly wind and solar PV capacity.

Commenting on the IEA Report, Imke Lübbeke, Head of Climate and Energy at WWF European Policy Office, said:

“The IEA report clearly shows that President Juncker’s promise to make the EU ‘the world leader in renewables’ remains empty rhetoric. Instead, the European Union is losing its leadership role to the U.S. and China.

The global energy transition is accelerating, but the EU is asleep at the wheel, and missing out on the opportunities this could bring for our economy, job creation and health.

EU leaders have to incentivise renewable energy investments in wind and solar. Europe needs faster, more competitive and better connected energy markets to make them work for renewable energy technologies that are needed to drive decarbonisation. Failing that, we risk going from a world leader to a world laggard in renewables.”

ENDS

Notes to the editors:

1. Amongst European countries, Germany is expected to lead the renewable energy growth coming from onshore wind (+16.7 GW), followed by France (+7.3 GW), the United Kingdom (+3.5 GW) and Poland (+0.9 GW).
2. According to the IEA’s Renewable Energy Medium-Term Market Report, onshore wind expansion has stalled in some countries in Southern and Eastern Europe due to retroactive policies and/or drastic cuts in incentive schemes. In addition, grid integration and social acceptance issues are expected to slow growth in several countries in Europe including France and United Kingdom.

Contact:

Audrey Gueudet
Climate & Energy Senior Media and Communication Officer
WWF European Policy Office
agueudet@wwf.eu
Mobile: + 32 494 03 20 27