IWEA

The Irish Wind Energy Association (IWEA) has welcomed the European Commission decision to dedicate more than 50 per cent of the non-nuclear energy research budget to renewable energy and energy end-use efficiency.
 
At its second reading of the European Commission’s proposal for the 7th Framework Programme (FP7), the Council of Ministers formally approved the text previously negotiated with the European Parliament and the Commission.

The three institutions reached agreement on FP7 after intense discussion on the programme’s provision for funding renewable energy. The very positive outcome of the negotiations is that renewables and energy end-use efficiency will receive over half of the budget for non-nuclear research, meaning at least €1,175m over the seven years.
 
“This decision strongly supports the Irish Government commitment to renewables as expressed in the recent Green Paper on Energy. This funding represents an increase of approximately 40 per cent compared to the previous framework programme and will help reduce the cost of wind energy and reinforce wind technology’s contribution to the Lisbon Strategy”, said Mr. Tim Cowhig, Chairman of the IWEA.
 
The text was formally approved by the European Parliament on November 30th and the Council’s decision was the last step in the process. This ambitious and forward-looking research programme will start in January 2007.
 
A strong research base is essential for Europe to keep its global leadership in the renewables market. It will stimulate private industry to get more deeply involved, and to collaborate more closely with the public sector.

Strong research investment in renewable energy technologies and efficiency measures is a concrete answer from European decision-makers to the current concerns about security of supply and climate change as well as to the need for more research in the areas where European companies are global leaders.