Brazil, the largest and most populated nation in South America, is much in the news recently with stories discussing wind power’s vast potential for growth, the sector’s increasingly robust supply chain and the need to lower generation costs.

According to a Renewable Energy World article published on Wednesday, wind power and other renewables are set to see their contribution to the country’s electricity supply increase from eight per cent to 16 per cent by 2020.

The Chair of the UK’s Energy and Climate Change Committee, Tim Yeo, has highlighted the benefits that a Europe-wide electricity grid would bring to the UK.

In an article published by Renewable Energy Focus he said that the UK’s electricity system is “the least interconnected of all European countries.”

Energy prices in Europe are too high because the market for electricity is not yet functioning on an EU level, Michael Köhler, Head of Cabinet for Günther Oettinger, European Commissioner for energy, said at a public debate hosted by EWEA.

But to secure a functioning EU single market for electricity, the continent needs a Europe-wide electricity grid, he said on Thursday 22 September.

In the EU quarter of Brussels, discussions are ongoing about the EU budget for 2012 – and for the years up to 2020. But how does it all work? The latest Wind Directions finds out.

Just how much money is it?

An overall EU budget is decided for a seven-year period known as a “multi-annual financial framework”, or MFF. At the moment the EU is in an MFF running from 2007 to 2013. The overall budget for those seven years is €976 billion.

Despite persistent problems associated with the global economic crisis and a government fiscal policy deeply paralyzed along partisan lines, the US continues to express great interest in developing its offshore wind industry.

The latest proof of America’s faith in the rapidly-emerging offshore sector occurred earlier this month when Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced €31 million for projects that are expected to speed technical innovations, lower costs, and shorten the timeline for deploying offshore wind energy systems.