Promoting wind energy
Renewable energy is a key component of the European Union's (EU) plan to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 under the European Green Deal. Renewable energy is also an essential element in the implementation of REPowerEU, another plan announced in 2022 to end fossil fuel imports from Russia as soon as possible and to achieve energy independence.
The EU is currently seen as a leader in policy initiatives to promote renewable energy. Every year, the EU institutions provide to Member Countries new recommendations and legally binding policy mechanisms to ensure the long-term development of renewable energy and energy and environmental security.
The EU's latest goal is for renewable energy to account for 45%, and at least 42.5%, of total electricity consumption by 2030. Meeting this goal will require a significant increase in the installed capacity of wind farms, which is expected to grow from 204 gigawatts (GW) in 2022 to more than 500 GW in 2030.
Various measures are being taken to promote wind energy:
- Directive (EU) 2018/2001 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources was adopted in 2018: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/LT/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32018L2001
- European Wind Energy Action Plan approved in 2023: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/LT/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52023DC0669
According to Directive (EU) 2018/2001, Lithuania had to generate 23% of its energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020. According to the latest data, in 2022, renewable energy represented 22.74% of the country's electricity demand: the annual energy produced from renewable sources amounted to 2.545 terawatt hours (TWh), compared to the national electricity consumption of 11.192 TWh.
According to the National Energy Independence Strategy, Lithuania has set a goal of generating 80% of the country's energy needs from non-polluting sources by 2050.
Currently, the common position of the European Wind Energy Association (Wind Europe) and the national European wind energy associations, including the LVEA, is to urge the leaders of the Member Countries and their governments to maintain the EU's leadership in the development of renewable energies and to pursue the 2030 renewable energy goal not only at the European level, but also at the level of Member Countries.
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