Electricity generators need to lead the move away from fossil fuel dependence, leaving oil and gas to plastic manufacturers and other industrial users, according to the head of the world's biggest wind energy group.

Ignacio Sánchez Galán, executive chairman of Iberdrola of Spain, says technological advances in renewable sources such as wind and solar generation meant the power industry was better equipped to wean itself off oil and gas. In contrast, most industrial sectors that relied on hydrocarbons were not, he told the Financial Times.