The European Union must install three times more wind turbines every year to comply with the climate agreement | environment

The European Union decided in September that the share of renewable energy in member states must increase to at least 42.5 percent by 2030. The report then compiled the 27 member states’ wind energy plans to compare them with the goals of the Paris climate agreement. This agreement was supposed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The WWF report notes that wind energy policy in only ten member states is consistent with the agreed climate agreement. Four European countries missed the targets. Belgium is one of the best in the class with a target of producing 10.24 GW of wind energy by 2030. This is significantly more than the 8.21 GW set by the climate agreement. In 2022, our country had a capacity of 5.3 GW of wind energy. Belgium mainly owes the good report to the planned expansion of its offshore wind farm, which would generate a total of 6 GW offshore in 2030.

Belgium is one of the world leaders in offshore wind energy, according to the office of Energy Minister Ten van der Straeten (green). “We are accelerating the energy transition by tripling wind capacity in the Belgian North Sea by 2030,” the document says. “We are on full schedule to realize these ambitions by, among other things, building an energy island, the first of its kind.” In the world, he added: “The environmental permit was submitted for today, Tuesday. Construction of the island will begin in March 2024, and the first wind turbines will be built in 2028.”

The environmental organization says efforts across the European Union are insufficient. Annual wind energy production capacity reached 16 gigawatts last year, but that number is expected to triple to 44 gigawatts by 2030, according to WWF.

WWF is therefore calling for an acceleration of the installation of wind turbines at sea and on land. Facilities must “take ecosystems into account” and “be planned with and for residents.” Finally, the Environment Agency points out that the installation of wind turbines must be accompanied by other sources of renewable energy, such as solar energy, and a significant reduction in energy consumption.