1. Context – Outlook

Throughout the industrial era, hydropower has made a major contribution to electricity generation, with the immense advantage of being easy to store. Just behind biomass, it is today the second most important primary renewable resource, ahead of geothermal and wind power. But when it comes to electricity generation, hydropower is in first place by a long way.

The wind energy sector is playing a leading role in power generation. Of the 2,560 TWh (1 TWh = 10 ⁹ kWh) of electricity generated in Europe in 2000 (around 13,000 TWh worldwide), 368 TWh was of renewable origin (or 14.4%) [11] .

In the Community's White Paper on Energy [4] , the European Economic Community...