EU gives "green light" to renewable energy
Recently, the European Commission issued a temporary emergency policy proposal, saying that in order to promote the diversification of energy supply, the EU will accelerate the proportion of domestic renewable energy installed capacity and reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels. Specific measures will include temporarily relaxing environmental requirements for the construction of renewable energy plants, simplifying approval procedures, and setting a maximum approval time.
Streamline renewable energy management processes
The European Commission said that lengthy and complex regulatory processes have long been a major obstacle to renewable energy and related infrastructure in Europe. As early as May this year, the European Commission proposed in its energy plan that it would simplify the approval process for clean energy projects; In October, the European Council also issued an appeal for countries to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy projects. However, the deteriorating situation in the European energy market has forced the European Commission to take further steps to introduce the above-mentioned emergency proposal.
It is understood that the emergency proposal is aimed at solar energy and existing renewable energy power plants . In the field of solar energy, the emergency proposal will provide a fast approval channel for projects to install photovoltaic equipment in man-made facilities. Such projects will no longer need to provide environmental assessment results, and the maximum approval time for various links such as photovoltaic panel installation, supporting energy storage facilities and grid connection projects is one month.
At the same time, the EU will further simplify the approval process for the renovation of existing renewable energy projects, and the maximum approval time will be set at 6 months. If the increase in power generation does not exceed 15% of the original capacity after the retrofit, the retrofit project will also receive a more simplified grid-connected procedure.
The European Commission pointed out that the development of renewable energy will help reduce the EU’s dependence on fossil fuels, benefiting important sectors such as electricity, cooling and heating, industry and transport, while the decreasing cost of renewable energy will help Europe reduce energy costs. Currently, the emergency proposal clause is set to be valid for one year.
From the perspective of the industry, the European Commission’s proposal has brought obvious benefits to the renewable energy industry. EU Climate Affairs Director Frans Timmermans said that the proposal launched this time is another measure for the EU to accelerate the green transition and deal with the energy crisis. “The EU has been able to increase the 2030 renewable energy development target from 55% to 57%,” he said.