Study on impacts of EU actions supporting the development of renewable energy

technologies

Wind R&D Study FindingsPresented on 07/11/2018 in Brussels

Historical R&D funding

Framework

programme Timing Technological status

FP5 1998 – 2002 < 1 MW, onshore, niche market

FP6 2002 – 2006 1 – 2 MW, onshore, steady growth

FP7 2007 – 2013 Launch of offshore wind

H20202014 - 2020

Upto 5 MW onshore, more then 10 MW offshore, launch of floating offshore,

reaching grid parity

History of wind technology

Framework programme

Wind energy Wind energy and other RES

EU funding

(M EUR)

Number of

projects

EU funding

(M EUR)

Number of

projects

FP5 (1998 – 2002) 75 57 8 7

FP6 (2002 – 2006) 55 20 14 2

FP7 (2007 - 2013) 294 74 44 12

H2020 (2014 - up to mid-March

2018)141 74 28 9

Total EU funding 565 225 95 30

EU FP R&D funding

• Sharp increase from FP6 to FP7

• H2020 funding levels remain high, period not completed

• Several wind in combination with ocean energy projects funded as well

Source: Cordis, 2018

Funding converted to 2016 Euros

Comparison to other sectors

• Wind energy received 16% of total €3.6 billion EU funding

• Ranking behind solar PV (23%) and biofuels (19%)

• At the same level as bioenergy (16%)

Source: Cordis, 2018

H2020 not for full funding period

Funding per sub-technology

• Consistent support for component development, fixed-bottom offshore and grid integration

• Increased funding for floating offshore and O&M from FP7

Source: Cordis, 2018

Funding at Member State level

• Increased MS funding from 2010 onwards

• Wind energy received 20% of total MS R&D funding for RES between 1995 and 2015

• Highest R&D budgets in Germany, Denmark, UK, the Netherlands and Spain

Source: IEA/OECD, 2018

International comparison

• Combined EU FP and MS funding is world leading

• Lack of data for China. Available data suggests Chinese R&D funding levels comparable to EU in 2016

EU: MS + EU FPs

No data available for China

Source: OECD/IEA (2018 )

Research effectiveness

Patents

• EU patents peak in 2011, sharp decrease from 2012

• Decreasing EU share of global patents mainly due to increased patenting in China, South Korea, Japan and the USA

• No strong correlation between R&D funding and patent applications

Source: IRENA INSPIRE (2017)

Publications (1/2)

• Strong growth in wind energy publications by EU authors

• EU-based authors involved in 43% of global publications between 1995 and 2017

Source: Web of Science (2018)

Publications (2/2)

• EU maintains academic leadership

• Strong growth in publications from China

Source: Web of Science (2018)

Key impacts of EU Framework Programme funding

Academic leadership

• The EU R&D budgets for wind energy (EC+MS combined) are at a world leading level

• The EU is global number 1 in wind energy publications and has retained this position for many years

Large turbines + offshore

• EU R&D funding contributed significantly to the development of larger wind turbines and offshore wind technology allowing for major cost reductions

• Examples include:• UPWIND (FP6), which determined that developing large turbines of

up to 10 MW was feasible, but not yet cost-effective

• INNWIND (FP7), which contributed to the performance and cost competitiveness of offshore wind technology components (e.g. blades, generators, offshore substructures)

• SUPRAPOWER (FP7) developed and patented a novel 10 MW lightweight and reliable generator

• LEANWIND (FP7) addressed the logistical challenges of deploying, installing and operating large scale wind turbines

Floating offshore

• Under FP7, floating turbines, started to receive funding through several projects designed to remove design and implementation hurdles

• Examples include:• ICFLOAT (FP7), which developed numerical models for analysing the

stability, efficiency and feasibility of floating wind turbines

• FLOATGEN (FP7) and DEMOFLOAT (FP7), which demonstrated the technical feasibility and economic viability of floating wind turbines

Industrial leadership

• EU accounts for 30% of all wind energy industry jobs worldwide

• EU wind energy industry is one of the largest across all RE sectors, comparable to bioenergy and about four times as large as biofuels and solar PV

• The EU wind energy has a large trade surplus

Conclusions

• The EU R&D budgets for wind energy are at a world leading level and have been successful in establishing academic leadership

• EU framework programme funding contributed significantly to the development of:• Larger wind turbines resulting in major cost decreases

• Fixed-bottom offshore wind technology

• Floating offshore wind technology

• The joint efforts of the EU and Member States have been successful in establishing and maintaining a world-leading industry