Those turbines present several innovative features that are expected to significantly increase the performances of tidal farms, including rotating nacelles, variable pitch blades and submerged power electronics.

The information submitted by wind turbine or wind turbine blades manufacturers (a downstream user industry) during the investigation has been limited and of only a very general nature.

There is also a need to improve existing ones, such as by increasing the size of offshore wind turbines and blades to capture more wind and to improve photovoltaic panels to harvest more solar power. Storage technologies remain critical.

119. Stresses the enormous development potential of offshore wind energy and the major contribution it is able to make to Europe's independence from energy imports and to climate protection, while pointing out that enormous efforts are still needed to fully develop this potential; therefore calls on the Commission to draw up an offshore wind energy action plan embodying an efficient European approach to offshore technology, promoting more extensive networking and indicating the prospects of achieving a power generation capacity of at least 50 GW by 2020: therefore expects above all the adoption of a 'one-stop shop' approach and the prom ...[+++]otion of an intelligent offshore network infrastructure; welcomes the Commission recommendation for a European strategic Energy Technology Plan and urges that efforts be focused on the large-scale development of offshore wind energy;

119. Stresses the enormous development potential of offshore wind energy and the major contribution it is able to make to Europe's independence from energy imports and to climate protection, while pointing out that enormous efforts are still needed to fully develop this potential; therefore calls on the Commission to draw up an offshore wind energy action plan embodying an efficient European approach to offshore technology, promoting more extensive networking and indicating the prospects of achieving a power generation capacity of at least 50 GW by 2020: therefore expects above all the adoption of a 'one-stop shop' approach and the prom ...[+++]otion of an intelligent offshore network infrastructure; welcomes the Commission recommendation for a European strategic Energy Technology Plan and urges that efforts be focused on the large-scale development of offshore wind energy;

120. Stresses the enormous development potential of offshore wind energy and the major contribution it is able to make to Europe's independence from energy imports and to climate protection, while pointing out that enormous efforts are still needed fully to develop this potential; therefore calls on the Commission to draw up an offshore wind energy action plan embodying an efficient European approach to offshore technology, promoting more extensive networking and indicating the prospects for achievement of power generation capacity of at least 50 GW by 2020: therefore expects above all the adoption of a 'one-stop shop' approach and the ...[+++]promotion of an intelligent offshore network infrastructure; welcomes the Commission recommendation for a European strategic Energy Technology Plan and urges that efforts be focused on the large-scale development of offshore wind energy;