Electrification is Europe's "only future-proof energy security plan" as the region grapples with a fossil fuel shock from the war in the Middle East, WindEurope CEO Tinne van der Straeten said April 22 on the second day of the lobby group's annual conference in Madrid.
Van der Straeten, a former Belgian energy minister who became WindEurope's CEO in February, described electrification as a "strategic imperative" for Europe, amid the trade turmoil stemming from the Iran war.
"It is a ticket to our own independence, for our resilience, and also for our security," van der Straeten told delegates. "Electrification is not just about building more wind … It's about making electricity the most affordable and the cheapest option to choose from."
The message was echoed by Joan Groizard, Spain's secretary of state for energy, who said one of the main principles of Spain's policy response to the Iran war is to "electrify everything that's electrifiable."
"Renewable generation in our electricity mix is an insurance policy that protects us from energy shocks," Groizard said in a keynote speech in Madrid. "Let's extend that protection, that safety blanket, to the rest of the economy."
The European Commission aims to present an Electrification Action Plan by summer that will include an ambitious electrification target and measures to remove barriers in the industrial, transport and building sectors.
In a series of proposals published April 22, dubbed "AccelerateEU," the commission also outlined measures to accelerate grid expansion, maximize existing renewable energy infrastructure and provide temporary relief to consumers and industry.
Implementation gaps
As the WindEurope conference kicked off on April 21, the lobby group issued the "Madrid Call to Action," a 10-point plan to boost electrification.
The plan focuses on increasing renewable power supply, connecting that supply to demand, and making the switch to electric applications easier and more affordable for consumers and industry.
Many of the measures — such as speeding up renewables permitting and easing grid connection queues — are already high priorities for policymakers in Brussels, having been key elements of the Renewable Energy Directive III (RED III), part of the EU's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
While the messaging at a European level has been "very consistent" and certain EU member states such as Germany have accelerated renewables deployment, several countries have yet to fully implement RED III into national policy, according to Miguel Stilwell d'Andrade, CEO of Portuguese utility EDP SA.
"Quite frankly, you've seen many, many member states where, four years on, they've still not transposed a lot of those recommendations," Stilwell d'Andrade said in an interview with Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, at EDP's Madrid office.
"You can clearly see a lot of countries where it's still very difficult to permit, still very difficult to license, still takes years," the CEO said. "I think it's frustrating."
On permitting, several member states have encountered difficulties translating EU legislation through multiple layers of administrative scrutiny, according to Jorge Martínez, chief growth officer at Nadara Ltd., an onshore wind platform backed by JP Morgan Asset Management.
The challenge is compounded by inadequate staffing at regional and municipal levels, where minor permits essential for project deployment are processed, Martínez told Platts on the sidelines of the WindEurope conference.
"Now we have 10, 20 times more projects than the administration used to process in the past," the executive added. "Do we have the same number of resources? What we are observing is not only the same, but even fewer."
Power-sector resilience
Despite implementation gaps, Europe's electricity sector is proving far more resilient to the Iran crisis than it was during the 2022 energy shock, Stilwell d'Andrade said.
The executive attributed this resilience to three factors: significantly higher renewables penetration across Europe since 2022, full hydro reservoirs following a wet winter compared with 90-year lows in 2022, and higher gas storage levels.
France's sprawling nuclear fleet, which suffered widespread unplanned outages in 2022 due to maintenance issues and drought-related cooling constraints, is also operating at significant higher availability.
In Iberia, the impact of the war is yet to feed into the region's power prices, with gas today only setting the price for 15% of the hours, according to Stilwell d'Andrade.
"That's a very big difference versus where we were in 2022," the executive said. "We come into this crisis … with a different position of strength."
