BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 11. Since 2019, EU wind
and solar capacity has grown by 65 percent (+188 GW), said European
Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson, Trend reports via the European Commission.
Addressing the opening session of the 2024 European Sustainable
Energy Week, the Commissioner noted that wind capacity climbed by
31 percent (+52 GW).
“Solar capacity has surged even faster, more than doubling
(+113%) from 120 to 257 Giga Watts. This is equivalent to
installing more than 230 000 solar panels every day during these
four years. All this to say that the era of fossils fuelling our
economies is behind us, and we are now firmly moving into the age
of renewables. But this does not mean that our work is over. It is
the beginning,” she said.
Simson noted that now EU must take the right steps to ensure
that its industry can grow and compete in this new normal.
“And this is exactly what the Commission has been focused on
over the past year. We are taking action to speed up the energy
transition, secure our industrial base, and ramp up clean tech
manufacturing in Europe. This involves many different avenues of
work, but for the sake of time, let me focus on three key issues.
First, we have moved from rules and target setting to a focus on
implementation. Second, we are moving the needle on infrastructure.
Third, we’ve been preparing the ground for hydrogen to take off in
the EU,” the Commissioner explained.
Simson pointed out that EU has a completely new framework for
Europe’s hydrogen economy in place and this gives industry and
business a clear direction of travel.
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