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Almost all EU countries and around 300 firms have agreed to proceed with the EU's plan to expand wind farms and its supporting infrastructure, Reuters reports. The EU announced plans in October to support the continent's wind energy sector to contribute to reaching the bloc’s target of having 42.5% of all energy come from renewable sources by 2030. All EU member states except Hungary are going forward with the recommendations, which include changing renewable energy auctions to give local manufacturers an edge, scrutinising unfair trade practices in foreign wind product manufacturing, and stepping up investments in local manufacturing capacity for wind turbines. A number of EU countries including Germany and Poland have already kickstarted some of their initiatives last month.

The move is the push the EU's wind sector needed: Hurdles such as rising costs of wind turbine materials, higher borrowing costs, and a supply chain crisis in the wind sector has severely impacted the bottomline of wind energy giants like Vestas and Siemens Gamesa over the last couple of years.

ING to phase out oil and gas financing by 2040 + triple funds for renewables:Dutch banking firm ING — the largest in the Netherlands — has committed to stop financing oil and gas exploration and production by 2040 and will triple its lending for renewable energy in the next two years, according to a statement. The decision comes following agreements made at COP28 and guidance from the International Energy Agency, which has warned that advanced economies must move away from oil and gas by 2040 to limit warming to 1.5°C, CEO Steven van Rijswijk said.

How will the banking giant get there? ING plans to raise financing of renewable power generation to EUR 7.5 bn annually by 2025, up from EUR 2.5 bn last year. The Dutch lender will also reduce loans for upstream oil and gas activities by 35% by 2030, cutting its emissions in half, the statement said.

OTHER STORIES WORTH KNOWING ABOUT THIS MORNING-

  • EcoCeres to source feedstock from Shenzhen: China's biofuels refiner EcoCeres is partnering with waste management firm Shenzhen Expressway Group to source feedstock for biofuel. (Reuters)
  • AfDB allocates USD mns for African hydropower: The Africa HydropowerModernisation Programme (AHMP) secured a USD 9.72 mn grant from the African Development Bank (AfDB)-managed Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa to modernize 12 projects across eight countries. (Statement)
  • GE Aerospace successfully tests 100% SAF flight: Ohio-based GE Aerospace and its joint ventures successfully tested 10 aircraft engines running with 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). (Press Release)
  • Microsoft to buy carbon credits from US startup: US tech giantMicrosoft has partnered with US offsets startup Chestnut Carbon to remove 2.7 mn tons of carbon from the atmosphere over the next 15 years. (Reuters)
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