Windeurope annual wind energy competition at the BEC, from 5 to 7 April

The wind industry debate this week at the annual contest wind europe in the Bilbao Exhibition Center (BEC) the main challenges for the sector, in an expansive phase due to the EU’s emission reduction targets.

This is where the competition comes from Tuesday 5 April and until Thursday 7 Aprilfor some 8000 professionals who will discuss topics such as the production of green hydrogen from wind energy, digital networks, the mix of renewable energy technologies and offshore wind, especially floating (not anchored to the seabed), the only possible in seas with deep continental shelves, such as the Cantabrian.

The Minister of Economic Development, Sustainability and the Environment, Arantxa Tapiastated at the opening ceremony that the war in Ukraine is “increasingly” urgent development of renewable energy sources and added that we are going through “critical times” and a “critical” moment to consolidate energy strategies that allow us to reduce dependence on external sources.

After stating that it is “a pride and a responsibility” for the Basque government and for Basque companies that this event is being held “successfully”, he assured that we are living a “critical moment” for the consolidation of energy strategies that, on the one hand , in part, “enable dependency and in turn drive improvements in response to climate change threats”.

As he noted, “tense times” are being experienced with the social and health problems caused by the global Covid-19 pandemic and the geopolitical fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Tapia has indicated that this conflict has placed the energy sector in an emergency that “makes the development of renewable energy sources increasingly urgent” and opened up new opportunities in this area.

In this regard, the Minister emphasized that it is an “excellent” moment to explore the potential of the Basque industry and the “strong” Euskadi’s commitment to wind energy

Tapia stated that the Basque industry, like European industry, is engaged in decarbonisation, “with commitments and actions”, and congratulated itself as this week the Basque Country is hosting what will be the first meeting of the Net Zero European Super Cluster promoted by the World Economic Forum.

“It would be good if all of Europe adopted and shared the mission to accelerate the economic reactivation that generates employment, taking the digital, energy and social health transformation as an opportunity to strengthen the competitiveness of the production structure and improve environmental criteria. integrate it into all sectoral policies, not as a conditioning factor, but as a competitive factor to create value,” he concluded.

For its part, the Spanish Vice-President and Minister for the Ecological Transition, Theresa Riverahas defended that the Spanish government’s proposal to limit energy prices is “the best”, for which he has emphasized that “it is time to put our shoulders under the wheel and work to move forward and avoid an inflationary effect cause, and I believe everyone understands.”

At the end of the stock market opening, the minister made a few brief statements to the press about the Spanish-Portuguese proposal to limit the price of energy, which was criticized by the presidents of Iberdrola and Endesa.

“Electrification is here, electricity trade will necessarily grow and it is necessary to adjust a bit to ensure that the economy, households, Spanish and Portuguese industry can recover a reasonable price,” he insisted.

On the words of the president of Endesa that the proposal will be like “going back to the peseta”, the minister has described them as “funny comments”.