The European Renewable Energy Council (EREC, Brussels) has announced that it will voluntarily dissolve as it cannot meet lease payments on its buildings.
EREC has been the main tenant of the three buildings at the Renewable Energy House (REH), a showcase for sustainable energy launched by the Prince of Belgium. EREC notes that the REH continues to operate.
“It is therefore particularly regrettable and somewhat ironic that, although the REH itself is running fine and is a testament to the reliability of our technologies, the lease agreement of the building has now turned out to be the cause of the demise of the organization that the REH was intended to serve”, said EREC President Hinrichs-Rahlwes.
EREC also notes that the dissolution of the organization comes at a particularly bad time.
“Without a strong sense of collaboration, the European renewable energy sector will lose ground to competing and ever more desperate fossil fuel and nuclear industries and their lobbies”, warns Hinrichs-Rahlwes.
“It is in the interest of both our common sustainable future and the renewable energy sector as a whole to be united and therefore not in competition for policy support and public acceptance. The last decade has shown us what a high level of consensus and cooperation can achieve.
“With the umbrella organization dissolved, it will be much more challenging to achieve the necessary decisions towards a favourable investment climate for the renewable energy sector in Europe.”
EREC was founded by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA, Brussels) the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF, Brussels) and four other renewable energy trade organizations in 2000.
The organization was since joined by five other organizations including the European Solar Thermal Electricity Association (ESTELA, Brussels), however EWEA left in January 2014.
EREC led the call for a binding renewable energy target by 2020, which was passed into law in 2009. However, the EU has not yet passed binding targets for 2030, a political struggle which is currently underway.
