EIC Scaling Club has released a new market roadmap for the Renewable Energies sector.
Europe is positioning itself as a leader in renewable energy innovation, with a diverse range of technologies showing high growth potential. Ocean and wave power, deep geothermal energy, and offshore wind are identified as the most untapped resources, potentially reshaping the European energy mix if certain hurdles can be overcome.
What hurdles specifically? Access to funding and skilled talent are expected to become the main market barriers in the next three years. Additionally, the ongoing lack of regulatory harmonization across Europe continues to be a major concern, hindering innovation and impeding company growth.
The industry is also grappling with various technological issues. While companies prioritize the automation of Operations & Maintenance, stakeholders emphasize the need for grid modernization and scaling up storage solutions. As Yannick Peysson, R&I Program Manager, IFP Energies Nouvelles, points out: “One of the biggest issues on the market is the interoperability of all systems – having a system that can communicate with different sources should be a priority”.
Reducing capital expenditure (CAPEX) remains a shared priority across the board.
Interestingly, there's a divergence in geographic focus between stakeholders and scaleups. While stakeholder members prioritize operations within their own country and Europe, scaleups are keenly focusing on both Europe and North America to drive their growth.
The report also highlights the looming shadow of international competition. A striking 85% of all members identify North American scaleups or Chinese corporations as the biggest competitors to European scaleups in this sector.
Despite these challenges, the renewable energy sector in Europe shows immense promise. With its continuous production potential, geothermal energy could have a significant impact if drilling costs can be reduced and technologies improved. Similarly, wave power could become more mainstream with increased investment and development.
As the industry moves forward, addressing these challenges while capitalizing on Europe's innovative spirit will be crucial. By fostering collaboration, streamlining regulations, and focusing on key technological advancements, Europe can solidify its position as a global leader in renewable energy.
Market roadmaps are reports that provide a snapshot of the stakeholder members vision and insights on the state of the respective market in Europe. They are designed to help professionals and entrepreneurs in particular to grasp meaningful insights to build their scaling strategy.
You can find all EIC Scaling Club reports here.
The EIC Scaling Club is a curated community where 120+ European deep tech scale-ups with the potential to build world-class businesses and solve major global challenges come together with investors, corporate innovators and other industry stakeholders to spur growth.
The top 120+ European deep tech companies will be carefully selected from a pool of high-growth scale-ups that have benefitted from EIC financial schemes, other European and national innovation programmes, and beyond.
The EIC Scaling Club is an EIC-funded initiative run in partnership by Tech Tour, Bpifrance (EuroQuity), Hello Tomorrow, Tech.eu (Webrazzi), EurA and IESE Business School.
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