Since taking over as chief executive of the Brussels-based European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) in April, Thomas Becker has found himself defending its virtues to critics from cash-strapped governments, fossil-fuel competitors and, in the past month, leading utility bosses — who claim that renewables subsidies are a “disaster” for the energy sector.
But subsidies are not the issue, says Becker. He believes that high electricity prices are due to the rising cost of wholesale gas, cheap imported coal from the US, an emissions trading system that is not working and the absence of EU renewables targets for 2030.
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