Europe needs to invest €200bn ($268.3bn) in renewable energy to achieve energy security and a low carbon economy by 2020, according to Suzlon Energy chairman Tulsi Tanti.
Tanti told Reuters that Europe in the next ten years should be able to generate 150 to 200GW including 100GW potentially harnessed through offshore wind power.
“If investment is accelerated in the sector, it will bring economic sustainability, energy security and a low carbon economy,” Tanti said.
According to the Suzlon head European Governments should actively support project financing and aid in creating a larger grid infrastructure to meet growing demand.
“Governments have to set the targets for banks and financial institutions, that a certain percentage of available finance should be directed toward the development of renewable energy,” Tanti said.
Suzlon holds a majority stake in Germany’s Repower and has operations in 24 countries with about 13GW of installations worldwide.
Suzlon is not expecting any growth in the sector in 2010 compared with 2009 as economies recover from the financial crisis.
“We are expecting somewhere between 20-25% of growth in the next five years worldwide and Suzlon will do a minimum of that,” Tanti said.
