Some of Europe’s largest energy companies have accused the EU of lacking ambition in the fight against climate change and urged more aggressive targets for growth in renewable power. The declaration, by companies including Iberdrola of Spain, Enel of Italy and SSE of the UK, came as negotiators gathered in Bonn for the latest round of international talks on tackling global warming. A proposed target for renewables to meet 27 per cent of EU energy consumption by 2030, up from 16.7 per cent in 2015, “lacks ambition and would slow down the current rate of renewables deployment” in Europe, the companies said. Their intervention shows the extent to which the energy industry — once seen as a roadblock to action against climate change — is embracing the transition away from fossil fuels.
Most big western European utilities have, to varying degrees, been reducing dependence on coal and gas-fired power generation in favour of wind and solar power in response to subsidies and other political measures to promote green energy. But in some cases, companies are now moving more aggressively than policymakers as the falling cost of wind and solar increases economic incentives for the switch.
The statement, by companies also including EnBW of Germany, EDP of Portugal and Orsted, the Danish group previously known as Dong Energy, called for an EU-wide binding target for 35 per cent renewable energy by 2030. Such a target was needed, the companies said, to “restore the EU’s global leadership” in green energy and to preserve efficiency gains, which had made renewables “the most competitive option for new power generation in Europe”.