The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) is preparing to ramp up its advocacy and outreach capacity in 2022 thanks to the overwhelming support from industry for its new member structure, which will provide the foundation for faster operational growth.
On November 24, 2021, at an Extraordinary General Meeting in Copenhagen, the Association’s members voted resoundingly in the “affirmative” to allow the Secretariate to modify its “Articles of Associations”. The vote allowed GWEC to introduce a new leading membership category for those companies looking to step up their engagement on global issues.
The Global Leaders (capped to a maximum of ten companies) will form the basis of the Association’s Executive Council, which will drive the works program and strategy for GWEC moving forward. To date, the companies include Equinor, GE Renewable Energy, Iberdrola, Mainstream, Ørsted, Shell, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE), and Vestas.
“We have been in close dialog with our members in relation to the future direction of the wind industry and the future need for advocacy and global outreach”, said Stewart Mullin GWEC COO. “High profile campaigns like COP26, advocacy efforts in emerging markets around the globe and issues management in established markets have tested the bandwidth of the association at times this year. Given our members want GWEC to be even more active moving forward we needed to create a new structure that will provide a solid financial base for future operations for decades to come”.
The commitment from industry has allowed GWEC to make a series of important hires, including a new Global Head of Offshore Wind. In Q1 2022, the Association aims to add capacity in Vietnam, Brazil, Korea, Japan and Kenya, as well as dedicated experts in Grids, Power-X, etc. where the industry has a clear need for engagement at the international level.
GWEC now has four corporate membership levels, namely; Global Leaders, Global Influencers, Global Players and Global supporters. The secretariate also runs the Association Platform that is comprised of the world’s leading regional and national wind associations.