(Brussels Belgium) - The European Commission wants to speed up the approval process for renewable energy projects. These are cheaper, cleaner and “free from Russian manipulation,” said Executive Vice President Frans Timmermans. A regulation text has now been submitted as a proposal to the European Council. The Commission is thus following a request from the end of October. Core elements:
- Outstanding public interest: Planning and approval procedures for renewable energy systems and the associated network infrastructure can benefit from a simplified assessment for specific exceptions.
- Solar power: The Commission proposes to reduce the approval process for systems on “artificial” structures such as buildings along with storage and grid connections at the same location to a maximum of one month. The regulation also exempts the facilities from the need to carry out certain environmental assessments. When installing solar systems with an output of up to 50 kilowatts, approval is deemed to have been granted if the responsible authorities or bodies do not respond within one month of the application (“tacit approval”).
- Repowering: The approval process for existing renewable energy systems will be streamlined. All relevant environmental assessments must be carried out within a maximum period of six months. The proposal also stipulates that environmental assessments should be limited to assessing the potential impacts resulting from the modification or extension compared to the original project. In addition, a simplified procedure for grid connections will be introduced in cases where the total capacity due to repowering does not increase by more than 15 percent compared to the original project.
- Heat pumps: The approval procedures will be streamlined by introducing a maximum deadline of three months and a simplified procedure for connecting smaller heat pumps to the grid.
The new regulation will initially apply for one year and supplements “previous emergency measures to deal with the extraordinary situation on the energy markets and to accelerate the energy transition”.
It targets specific technologies and types of projects where “the potential for rapid deployment is highest and the environmental impact is lowest, and in the context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the fact that energy supplies have been used as a weapon “will be able to contribute to our energy supply security,” the paper says.
Council decision in November
The regulation will enter into force directly by Council decision (expected at the end of November) and on the day after publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. It then applies directly in every member state. By 1 July 2023 at the latest, the Commission shall carry out a review of trends in security of supply and energy prices and the need to further accelerate the deployment of renewable energy.
“Proposal for a Council Regulation laying down a framework to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy”, as PDF (15 pages) free of charge.
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