WindEurope Conference & Exhibition

Luca Bragoli Chair of the panel discussion "Repowering and Lifetime Extension"

Luca Bragoli, Head of Institutional Affairs, chaired the panel discussion "Repowering and Lifetime Extension", with panel session participants Antonio Lopez-Nicolas, Deputy Head of Unit - Renewables and CCS - DG ENER, European Commission; Jeppe Lundbæk, Chief Advisor, Danish Energy Agency; Luca Di Carlo, Scientific Secretary, ANEV; Preben Skatvedt, Global Development Manager, Vestas Wind Systems A/S; Uli Suedhoff, Europe Business Development Manager, GE Renewable Energy; and Heikki Willstedt, Director of Energy Policies & Climate Change, AEE (Asociación Empresarial Eólica).

As part of the goals for development abroad envisaged in our Strategic Plan, Bragoli is now working hard on public affairs with national and local institutions in European countries, particularly the UK, France and Germany where ERG has planned on making large investments in the coming years. The underlying premise of the discussion on Repowering and Lifetime Extension was that a significant share of Europe's wind turbine fleet will come to the end of their projected lifetime within the next 10 to 15 years.

In order to meet Europe's long-term decarbonisation target for 2030 - which involves increasing the share of wind power in the energy mix - these turbines will have to be replaced with new, more technically advanced models that can guarantee better performance and services to support the electric power grid. The conclusion of the panel discussion was that Repowering is one of the most sustainable solutions to drive the production of green energy because it meets all three of the core dimensions of the sustainability trilemma: social because it usually enjoys better local support than greenfield projects; environmental because it allows the reuse of various components and minimizes land use; and affordability because of its cost efficiency and the significant increase in renewable production.

Despite this, there are technical and regulatory complications concerning Repowering projects: new environmental restrictions have been introduced and the authorisation procedures are long and complex. For this reason, EU member states are looking for possible solutions and best practices to avoid a contraction in wind power capacity that would put Europe's energy transition at risk.

In the light of these obstacles, it was also pointed out that operators must focus increasingly on the involvement and participation of local communities and stakeholders directly in the projects: a task that ERG is vigorously and resolutely pursuing as part of its development projects.