(Berlin) - The Bundestag and Bundesrat have decided on the regulations for implementing the “EU Emergency Regulation” (Regulation EU 2022/2577). In January, the Federal Cabinet had already submitted the proposal presented by Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck Concept to implement the “EU Emergency Regulation”.
As reported, this will further accelerate the process of expanding renewable energies and the electricity grid. Together with the amendment to the Spatial Planning Act, corresponding regulations were made in the Wind Energy Area Requirements Act, the Offshore Wind Energy Act, the Energy Industry Act and the Environmental Impact Assessment Act.
Exceptions to administrative regulations
The EU emergency regulation applies to all approval procedures for wind turbines on land and at sea as well as to power grids with an output of 110 kilovolts or more that begin before June 30, 2024. Such projects receive temporary exceptions to some procedural steps, which speeds up the path from planning to commissioning. Approval procedures that have already begun can also benefit from the simplifications under certain conditions.
For open-space photovoltaic systems, the initiators are given the right to choose so that they can also install the systems under less strict conditions. In designated areas that have already undergone a “Strategic Environmental Assessment” (SEA), there is no obligation to carry out an environmental impact assessment (EIA) in the approval process. Requirements of the Bird Protection, Flora-Fauna-Habitat and EIA Directives are overridden for the scope of application of the regulation.
The RRP is limited for repowering measures. When repowering solar systems, the UVP obligation can be waived completely under certain circumstances. Approval procedures for the installation of defined solar energy systems are limited to three months. No EIA is necessary for PV systems on artificial structures. For systems below 50 kilowatts, the following applies: If the construction project is not expressly rejected, it is considered approved after a period of three months (“approval fiction”).
Approval procedures for the installation of heat pumps with an electrical output of less than 50 megawatts are limited to one month, and to three months for geothermal heat pumps.
A Overview on the implementation of the EU Emergency Regulation is available free of charge as a PDF.
Photos
The state chamber has approved the EU emergency regulation. © German Federal Council / Stefan Kugler
