Arantxa Tapia, the minister for Economic Development and Competitiveness of the Basque regional government, highlighted the role of the wind industry for the future of the Basque Country’s economy at an event held on 14 April in Bilbao.
During the opening session at the 3rd edition of the Analysis of Operating Wind Farms workshop, hosted by WindEurope (formerly known as EWEA), Tapia welcomed over 260 wind energy experts from industry and academia.
“Wind Energy is a priority area for this government’s industrial policies, since it offers new opportunities for growth on the international market, through new offshore wind facilities, the extension of existing wind farms and the installation of small wind turbines in urban settings,” Tapia said.
“Another aspect I consider to be of vital importance for the Basque wind industry is the level of its investment in R&D, totally nearly €40m within the Basque Country and nearly €100 million altogether per year.”
On 16 April, the Basque Energy Agency opened an application period to award this year’s grants to marine renewable energy projects involving the demonstration and validation prototypes of floating wind foundations, offshore wind turbines, and wave energy converters. The Basque government has set aside an overall budget of EUR 2.5 million to support marine renewables projects from 2016 to 2018.