WindEurope is honoured to announce that His Majesty the King of Spain will attend the WindEurope Annual Event 2022 in Bilbao. He will open the event on Tuesday 5 April before touring the exhibition and meeting with key players in the wind energy industry as well as representatives of Governments around Europe.

WindEurope 2022 (Bilbao, 5-7 April) is the annual conference and exhibition of the European wind energy industry. 8,000 people will be there. More than 330 companies will be exhibiting.

“It’s a great honour that His Majesty the King of Spain will open WindEurope 2022. The event comes at a decisive moment for Europe. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has upended the energy system. Europe is pursuing a new energy policy: less dependence on imported fossil fuels; and an accelerated transition to renewables. The EU now wants wind energy to grow from 190 GW today to 480 GW by 2030. In Bilbao we will focus on how to deliver this: tackling the barriers that need to be overcome e.g. around permitting, but also highlighting the opportunities, notably for jobs and communities”, says WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson.

“His Majesty the King of Spain visiting WindEurope 2022 highlights the leadership of the Spanish wind sector. It is a key sector for the Spanish economy with more than 250 industrial centers providing quality jobs for 30,000 professionals. There are 1,298 wind farms in 47 Spanish provinces, generating a better quality of life, and economic benefits and social opportunities to our towns and villages. Our National Energy & Climate Plan assigns us the task to double today’s wind power capacity by 2030 which will imply more than 60,000 jobs. To achieve that goal, we must install more than 2,5 GW of new wind power per year. It´s a big endeavor but we have all the skills to reach it. The WindEurope 2022 event will be a boost to continue growing as a reference industry and contribute to the fight against climate change and to the decarbonization of our economy”, says Juan Virgilio Marquez, CEO of the Spanish Wind Energy Association AEE.

Ministers and policymakers from around Europe will be taking part in the WindEurope 2022 event, including the Director-General for Energy in the EU Commission, Ditte Juul-Jørgensen, and Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister, Teresa Ribera. And there’ll be leading players from the wind industry, finance, academia and elsewhere. Here’s the full list of speakers and the conference programme.

Alongside the conference, there’ll be exhibition areas dedicated to start-ups, technology, skills & education, recycling and export opportunities in global markets. There’ll be meetings with the military, biodiversity NGOs and other key stakeholders. There’ll also be a workshop on renewables in Ukraine and various fund-raising activities for Ukrainians. Plus a range of social and side events.

It’ll be a key gathering – at a time when wind energy really needs to step up and help deliver energy security for Europe. Registration for the event is still possible. Journalists can accredit for free press passes here. There will be no onsite registration.