Major utilities companies are among Europe's worst polluters and most, until now, have viewed renewable energy as unrealistic and uneconomic. But the German government has been pushing ahead with a plan to build up its own wind power capacity in order to meet growing demand for electricity from renewables such as solar panels and biomass. While a few companies, such as Italian utility Enel, were early to embrace renewables and are now in a relatively strong market position, utility companies that resisted renewables the longest have suffered the biggest losses from falling share prices. Jumping belatedly on the renewables bandwagon, French utility EDF has announced plans to invest up to €2.5bn p.a. in renewables, albeit mainly abroad. Meanwhile, German utility RWE, which is heavily reliant on coal, is setting up a separate unit to focus on renewables and grids, following in the footsteps of its competitor E.ON, which opted for a similar strategy last year.
Major utilities companies are among Europe's worst polluters and most, until now, have viewed renewable energy as unrealistic and uneconomic. Now, utility executives meeting at the Paris Climate Conference, realise they must come up with new strategies to survive, as renewable energy accounts for more than a quarter of Europe's power and is pricing fossil fuels and nuclear plants out of the market. While a few companies, such as Italian utility Enel, were early to embrace renewables and are now in a relatively strong market position, utility companies that resisted renewables the longest have suffered the biggest losses from falling share prices. Jumping belatedly on the renewables bandwagon, French utility EDF has announced plans to invest up to €2.5bn p.a. in renewables, albeit mainly abroad. Meanwhile, German utility RWE, which is heavily reliant on coal, is setting up a separate unit to focus on renewables and grids, following in the footsteps of its competitor E.ON, which opted for a similar strategy last year.