Wind Energy Technology Platform

European Technology Platforms are bottom up initiatives launched by industry. They aim at bringing together all stakeholders and interested parties in a particular sector or technology area. The objective of European Technology Platforms (ETP) is to develop and implement a common vision for the development of a certain sector or technology area. This includes the drafting of a comprehensive long-term programme for research and technological development in the area of the technology platform. Where the Commission shares the view that an area has adequate potential and that a technology platform would provide European added value for the development of the sector concerned, the Commission supports the initiative. The European Wind Energy Technology Platform (TPWind) was launched in October 2006 and aims to identify areas for increased innovation, new and existing research and development tasks. These are prioritised on the basis of must haves versus nice to haves, the primary objective being overall (social, environmental and technological) cost reductions. This will help to achieve EU objectives in terms of renewable electricity production. The platform will develop coherent recommendations, detailing specific tasks, approaches, participants and the necessary infrastructure, in the context of private R & D, as well as EU and Member State Programmes, such as FP7. TPWind will also assess the overall funding available to carry out this work, from public and private sources. TPWind consists of stakeholders from industry, government, civil society, R & D Institutions, finance organisations, and the wider power sector, at Member State and EU levels. The Biofuels TP is managed by a Steering Committee supported by a secretariat, a Finance working group and 6 working groups. The Technology research and development working groups comprise: the wind energy resource, wind power systems and wind energy integration working groups. The policy/market research and development working groups comprise: the wind market & economics and wind policy & environment working groups. The sixth working group is a horizontal offshore deployment and operations working group.

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