Europeans Commit to Wind Energy Expansion Despite Trump Criticism

European governments including Germany, Britain and Denmark will reinforce their plans to massively expand wind power projects on Monday, despite U.S. President Donald Trump stepping up criticism of their green energy agenda, a draft declaration due to be signed by government leaders showed.

Trump has been openly critical of European countries' efforts to shift to low-carbon energy. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, he described wind turbines as "losers" and said, without providing evidence, that the more wind turbines a country has, the more money that country loses.

At a summit in Hamburg, Germany, on Monday, nine European governments will commit to accelerate the expansion of offshore wind power through large-scale, cross-border projects, to hit their overall target for 300 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind capacity by 2050, according to a draft summit declaration, seen by Reuters.

Britain and the participating EU countries will pledge to meet up to 100 GW of this goal via joint cross-border projects, said the declaration, which would also be signed by Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Norway.

Expanding offshore renewable energy "will contribute to promoting a stable, secure and affordable energy supply, drive local value creation, strengthen our industries and competitiveness, increase our strategic autonomy and generate jobs," the draft said.

Factors including higher costs of capital and components have led to failed wind farm auctions in several North Sea countries.

The joint declaration said the governments would also step up their efforts to increase financing for wind projects, potentially including through guarantees from the EU budget, and subsidy frameworks like "contracts for difference" which ensure a power plant receives a steady revenue stream when it is up and running.

Wind and solar power produced more electricity than fossil fuels in the EU for the first time last year, indicating the bloc's continued shift towards low-carbon energy despite resistance from some governments.

(Reuters)