Climate has, as ever, been a talking point at the 2023 World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, and discussions have largely rested on the potential impact that new emerging technologies could have in turning the tide for a planet in peril.
Miguel Stilwell, the CEO of EDP, one of the world’s leading energy providers and investors in renewable energy, spoke to Euronews Next on the sidelines of Davos about the technologies needed to help combat the climate crisis.
David Walsh, Euronews Next: Key on the agenda here in Davos is the climate crisis and soaring energy prices. How does EDP fit into that landscape?
Miguel Stilwell, EDP CEO: EDP is a global renewable energy company, and so I think it has a critical role to play in this energy transition that’s happening. I think that’s been actually accelerated now with the war in Ukraine and with this renewed focus not just on the environmental side, but also very much on the question of energy security, energy independence, and also how do we reduce costs. So we’ve been a player now in the renewable sector for over 20 years investing over this period in various different regions of the world. Europe is obviously our primary market. And so we continue to invest to make sure that we can deliver lower costs, energy security, and also reduce emissions.
Renewable energy is a crucial part of the climate crisis and how we deal with that. What is it doing in renewables that’s really noteworthy that we should know?
So, we’ve been one of the leading players in renewables now for the last 20 years. We invest in wind onshore and also offshore and also solar. And there are several different innovations, I think, that have gone on in the industry over the last couple of years, and we’ve been at the forefront of that.
In terms of offshore, we have a large portfolio both in Europe, up in Scotland, France, and Poland, but also now in the US on the East Coast, California. So, different technologies offshore are becoming a more and more mature technology. But even within the offshore industry, floating offshore technology is also beginning to get some scale. And we’ve been at the forefront of that in terms of solar.
