Introduction
This section reflects upon the key policies issued by EU in the area of renewable energy.
Key content
EU Solar Energy Strategy
As part of the REPowerEU plan, the Commission adopted in May 2022 an EU solar energy strategy, which identifies remaining barriers and challenges in the solar energy sector and outlines initiatives to overcome them and accelerate the deployment of solar technologies. Alongside the plan, the Commission also presented a Recommendation on fast permitting for renewable energy projects and a legislative proposal on permitting that will contribute to accelerate solar energy deployment in the EU. The EU solar energy strategy proposes 3 initiatives:
European Solar Rooftops Initiative
The initiative aims to accelerate the vast and underutilised potential of rooftops to produce clean energy. It includes a proposal to gradually introduce an obligation to install solar energy in different types of buildings over the next years, starting with new public and commercial buildings, but also residential buildings.
EU large-scale skills partnership
This partnership will address the skills gap in the EU and promote the development of a skilled workforce in the solar energy sector. Current bottlenecks in the workforce will become an opportunity for new green jobs in the clean energy transition.
EU Solar PV Industry Alliance
The Commission endorsed the creation of a new European Solar PV Industry Alliance in October 2022 to support the objectives of the EU's Solar Energy Strategy, which aims to bring online over 320 GW of solar photovoltaic by 2025 and almost 600 GW by 2030. On 9 December 2022, the European Solar PV Industry Alliance was launched by the Commission together with industrial actors, research institutes, associations, and other relevant parties.
Website https://energy.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2022-05/COM_2022_221_2_EN_ACT_part1_v7.pdf
Renewable energy – directive, targets, and rules
Building on the 20% target for 2020, the recast Renewable Energy Directive 2018/2001/EU established a new binding renewable energy target for the EU for 2030 of at least 32%, with a clause for a possible upwards revision by 2023.
To meet the higher climate ambition, as presented in the European Green Deal in December 2019, further revisions of the directive are needed. The Commission presented Europe’s new 2030 climate targets, including a proposal for amending the Renewable Energy Directive, on 14 July 2021. It seeks to increase the current target to at least 40% renewable energy sources in the EU’s overall energy mix by 2030.
On 18 May 2022, the Commission published the REPowerEU plan, which sets out a series of measures to rapidly reduce the EU’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels well before 2030 by accelerating the clean energy transition. The REPowerEU plan is based on three pillars: saving energy, producing clean energy, and diversifying the EU's energy supplies. As part of its scaling up of renewable energy in power generation, industry, buildings and transport, the Commission proposed to increase the target in the directive to 45% by 2030.
REPowerEU Plan
Building on the Fit for 55 package of proposals and completing the actions on energy security of supply and storage, this REPowerEU plan puts forward an additional set of actions to:
- save energy
- diversify supplies
- quickly substitute fossil fuels by accelerating Europe’s clean energy transition
- smartly combine investments and reforms.
Renewable Energy Directive - II
The Renewable Energy Directive – II (RED – II) introduced in December 2018 aims at increasing and promoting renewable energy deployment, including decentralized systems. The key initiatives supporting the deployment of decentralized RE include fast authorization/permit granting procedures which covers grid-connected small renewable energy projects (such as decentralized rooftop solar installations) as well; provisions to allow for the development of decentralized renewable energy technologies and storage under non-discriminatory conditions; introduction of the renewable energy communities which are subjected to levy fair and transparent procedures, taxes and charges with a proper cost-benefit analysis for distributed energy sources.
Website https://eur-lex.europa.eu