Europe’s wind industry will converge on one of the continent’s most flourishing wind hubs this spring: Bilbao. From 2-4 April, Bilbao will host the WindEurope 2019 Conference & Exhibition, the most important gathering for the wind industry, attracting 8,000 professionals and over 300 exhibitors from 50 countries.
The 2019 WindEurope Conference & Exhibition in Bilbao will build on the tremendous momentum achieved in recent years by wind power. According to the IEA, wind is now on course to be the EU’s largest power source well before 2030 – overtaking coal, nuclear and gas. In Bilbao, there will be several high-level sessions outlining the steps for a win-win synergy between the wind industry and policymakers. The reasons for this are very clear.
“Wind energy is a key enabler of the energy transition, providing reliable, competitive and sustainable electricity,” says event ambassador Ignacio Galán, chairman and CEO of Iberdrola. "With the correct policies in place, the wind industry can actually deliver the kind of future that policymakers so often like to speak of: prosperity and jobs, investments and growth, clean and affordable energy."
Speakers include the Spanish and Portuguese energy minister, ministers from Croatia and Norway, and Michal Kurtyka, the Polish minister who chaired the recent UN climate talks in Katowice. In plenary discussions they will explore what event ambassador Markus Tacke (Chief Executive Officer of Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy) calls the industry’s “deep commitment to improving the communities in which we operate by creating jobs and growth, protecting our natural environment, and improving people’s quality of life.”
The theme of the event is: ‘Delivering a clean economy for all Europeans.’ Key to this is reaching out more to people, ensuring that the growth of wind energy means a more prosperous Europe. Because, while the industry has major milestones to reach in terms of how much wind we get into Europe’s energy mix, there is a significant shortfall in terms of skilled and qualified wind energy workers.
Today, wind energy already provides more than 300,000 jobs in Europe and, as event ambassador Steve Lockard (Chief Executive Officer of TPI Composites) says, wind energy is already “impacting the people we employ and the communities in which we operate in a positive way around the globe.”
