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Airborne Wind Europe

AWEU

The aim of Airborne Wind Europe is to promote generation of energy from wind by means of airborne wind energy systems.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Joan Canton (Head of Unit Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs)

6 Oct 2025 · Exchange of views on the implementation of the Clean Industrial Deal

Meeting with Kerstin Jorna (Director-General Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs) and Environmental Coalition on Standards and

7 Jul 2025 · Letter with 16 signatories for European Competitiveness Fund to deliver climate and energy security for EU citizens and SMEs

Meeting with Apostolos Tzitzikostas (Commissioner) and

1 Jul 2025 · Strategic Dialogue on the EU Industrial Maritime Strategy

Meeting with Vincent Berrutto (Head of Unit Energy)

19 May 2025 · Wind Europe - Presentation of the Report on innovation needs for industrial competitiveness in the wind sector.

Meeting with Aleksandra Kordecka (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné) and European Chemical Industry Council and

14 May 2025 · Implementation of Clean Industrial Deal

Meeting with Ewa Malz (Head of Unit Environment) and Accenture PLC

26 Mar 2025 · Easy permitting

Response to EU Start-up and Scale-up Strategy

17 Mar 2025

Key challenges for AWE Startups and Scaleups Access to funding and finance Existing funding mechanisms favour conventional renewables, limiting AWEs access to grants and investments. Co-funding requirements in e.g. the Interreg programme can exceed startup capacities. Lengthy bureaucratic processes and rigid funding structures slow progress. Private investors see AWE as high-risk, favouring commercially established technologies. Regulatory and bureaucratic burdens Inconsistent EU and national regulations create uncertainty; some countries lack specific policies, while others impose strict aviation and environmental rules. Complex and lengthy permitting procedures increase costs and delay deployment, add uncertainty and complicate market entry. Market fragmentation and access National and EU policies lack putting AWE development as a priority, hindering domestic market presence. Governments, utilities, and investors lack awareness of AWEs potential. Talent Competitive salaries and long-term security favour large corporations, leading to talent loss, especially to the US and Asia . Difficulty recruiting specialised engineers, especially women. Locating R&D near wind sites limits senior talent availability, requiring travel or remote work. Infrastructure No dedicated AWE demonstration sites force startups to invest heavily in individual facilities. AI and computational resources are largely controlled by the US and China, creating dependency risks. Knowledge, research and expertise Limited access to academic research, modelling tools, and specialised testing hinders AWE development. Startups struggle to fund R&D teams, slowing innovation and market validation. Business services and support Navigating IP protection, regulatory compliance, and investment negotiations is costly and complex. Legal, financial, and marketing expertise is crucial but often inaccessible to early-stage companies. Limited support in structuring financial deals and securing public/private funding reduces scaling opportunities. Proposed solutions for these key challenges Access to funding and finance Recognize AWE as a promising, high-potential renewable solution to reduce investment uncertainty. Introduce financial instruments (loan guarantees, innovation-driven and AWE-specific auctions) to de-risk investments and support deployment. Ease the 1:1 equity-to-public funding rule for early-stage industries. Reduce bureaucratic barriers and streamline grant applications. Regulatory and bureaucratic burdens Harmonize regulations across Member States to simplify permitting. Introduce regulatory sandboxes for real-world testing of iRETs including AWE. Market fragmentation and access Launch EU-funded initiatives to educate stakeholders on iRETs and specifically AWE. Implement tax incentives for early adopters and strengthen venture capital support. Provide cross-border access to test sites and funding for pilot projects. Talent Promote diversity and inclusion in deep-tech industries. Offer tax benefits, salary co-funding, and simplified visa processes to attract skilled talent. Support research-to-startup transitions through specialized grants and PhD placements. Knowledge, research and expertise Establish funding schemes for academia-industry partnerships and pilot projects. Create specialized funding programs for innovative renewables like AWES. Business services and support Provide subsidized access to legal, financial, and marketing services. Establish Innovation Support Hubs for mentorship and regulatory guidance. Expand investor-startup matchmaking initiatives to attract venture capital.
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Meeting with Jutta Paulus (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur) and Climate Action Network Europe and

14 Mar 2025 · Security of Energy Supply

Meeting with Anne-Maud Orlinski (Cabinet of Commissioner Dan Jørgensen), Martin Engell-Rossen (Cabinet of Commissioner Dan Jørgensen)

22 Jan 2025 · Wind Sector in the European Union New Energy Policy priorities

Meeting with Kurt Vandenberghe (Director-General Climate Action) and Transport and Environment (European Federation for Transport and Environment) and

29 Nov 2024 · Recommendations for an Electrification Action plan in Europe

Meeting with Niels Fuglsang (Member of the European Parliament)

24 Oct 2023 · Net-zero Industry Act

Meeting with Kadri Simson (Commissioner) and

20 Jun 2023 · Presentation of new report on smart electrification.

Meeting with Ignazio Corrao (Member of the European Parliament)

30 Mar 2023 · Wind Technology

Response to Communication on revamping the SET Plan

31 Oct 2022

The Airborne Wind Energy sector supports the initiative to revamp the SET-Plan. From our point of view, it is important to implement clear, transparent and publicly available criteria and decision-making processes which clean energy technologies should be supported. Due to the different stakeholder groups, committees and organisation, it is currently not easily understandable how decisions are taken. For instance, the members of the SET Plan Steering Group are not disclosed on the SET-Plan website https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/research-and-technology/strategic-energy-technology-plan_en#set-plan-steering-group. As innovative wind energy technology Airborne Wind Energy (AWE) will (hopefully) find its way through the ETIPWind into the SET-Plan. We want to emphasize that it is important to allow innovation in the wind energy sector beyond the 3-bladed Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine, even though we recognize that further improvements and innovations are required for HAWT as well. However, the potential of AWE to access high-altitude winds up to 500m and to reduce the material input by up to 90% is large: A recent White Paper of BVG Associates https://airbornewindeurope.org/white-paper-for-the-airborne-wind-energy-sector-by-bvg-associates-commissioned-by-airborne-wind-europe/ estimates the deployment by 2031 to be around 1 GW and by 2050 up to 270 GW. By requiring less material, supply chain shortages and import dependencies are reduced, notwithstanding the environmental benefits (LCA studies how at least a 40% reduced GWP). Taking the goal of a circular economy serious, means foremost "reducing" material (at then re-use and recycling). AWE can provide a step-change in that regards for wind technology. First studies show also a reduced impact on birds and no impacts on bats; public acceptability is also currently investigated. Having most of the AWE technology developers in Europe, the export potential for AWE systems globally in a high-tech technology is significant, including floating offshore markets, large-scale grid connected systems and remote or logistically difficult to access locations. Spill-over effects to the maritime sector can be expected as kites will be able to reduce fuel consumption of small and large ships. The next years are critical for several AWE technology developers to commercialize their systems (the first companies sell already 150-kW units). It will be seen if the Parliament's proposal to include a 5% target for "innovative technologies" by 2030 into the RED III will be confirmed in the trialogues. This will help making the case for AWE. In any case, the recognition of AWE within the future SET-Plan and the support by Member States, the AWE technology will be able to thrive and reach its full potential. We trust that Airborne Wind Europe and/or its members will be consulted during the course of this initiative. And we hope that AWE will be specifically mentioned in the SET-Plan as one of the crucial renewable energy technologies for Europe to become climate neutral.
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Response to Offshore renewable energy strategy

13 Aug 2020

Airborne Wind Europe welcomes that the EC is preparing an offshore renewables strategy. We would like to emphasize that this strategy may include the potential opportunities that Airborne Wind Energy can offer from about 2030 onwards it is expected that AWE technology will be ready for large-scale deployment in offshore conditions. Especially the possibility of using floating offshore systems which require considerable less material will help to reduce the environmental impacts of offshore-wind energy. Airborne Wind Energy is also deemed to be a low-cost option to repower offshore wind sites and therefore avoid a complete decommissioning of existing foundations of wind turbines. We would also like to stress that the environmental impacts of all renewable offshore technologies on seabed, flora and fauna should be duly taken into consideration and that protected habitats should be respected or even enlarged. An offshore renewable strategy should also be defined in combination with the overall European renewable energy strategy because it should not be seen as an “easy-exit” for governments who want to shy away from any conflicts that onshore renewable technologies may raise. Onshore renewables, including wind, will also be required in the future to reach the targets of the Paris Agreement. A brief introduction to Airborne Wind Energy is uploaded for further information.
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