The European Commission has proposed an emergency text, valid for one year, to simplify and accelerate authorizations for heat pumps and solar energy, in order to boost the production of “green” electricity in the EU in the face of war in Ukraine.
As part of the ambitious European climate plan, a legislative proposal to strengthen the deployment of renewable energies had already been presented by the Commission in July 2021, and is currently the subject of close negotiations between MEPs and member states.
Pending final agreement on this text and its transposition into national law, Brussels therefore proposes provisional measures applicable as soon as they are approved by the States and without consultation of the European Parliament, in order to “remedy the bottleneck of authorization procedures that hinder the accelerated deployment of projects”.
The aim is to target “specific technologies and projects that have the greatest potential for rapid deployment and the least impact on the environment, to contribute to our energy security” at a time when the EU is seeking to reduce its dependence on Russian hydrocarbons.
The European executive proposes that renewable energy infrastructures be “presumed to be of overriding public interest”, allowing new authorisation procedures to benefit from a “simplified assessment” and the derogations provided for in environmental regulations.
In addition, in order to accelerate the deployment of heat pumps, Brussels wants to speed up the procedures for granting permits, which can no longer exceed three months. Grid connections will be automatically allowed for pumps up to 12 kW.
The Commission also proposes to restrict the authorization process for the installation of photovoltaic panels on existing buildings or structures and for their connection to the grid to a maximum of one month.
These solar installations would be exempt from environmental impact assessment. And for small installations, Brussels even suggests that approval be tacit, via the notion of “positive administrative silence”.
Finally, for any increase in the power of existing renewable energy infrastructures (solar, wind farms, geothermal…), the granting of the permit will have to take a maximum of six months, including environmental assessments, which would be restricted.
Within this framework, the authorization procedure for connections to the electricity grids of all renewable energy infrastructures will be limited to one month and drastically simplified, in cases where the total capacity increase does not exceed 15%.
Boosting the capacity of existing sites “offers significant potential to rapidly increase electricity generation from all renewable sources,” according to the Commission.
By July 2023, Brussels may propose to extend the application of these emergency measures if it deems it necessary, in particular “depending on the evolution of security of supply and energy prices”.
With this proposal, “of limited duration and scope”, “we will be able to unblock a myriad of renewable energy projects in the next twelve months”, said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in the European Parliament.
“According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), we could already replace 14 billion cubic meters of gas next year (…) just by speeding up the permitting procedures for these projects,” she said.
Renewable energy capacity in the EU is expected to grow by more than 50 GW in 2022, a record year, including a 40 GW increase in solar photovoltaic installations alone, mainly rooftop panels, according to the Commission. But solar deployment must accelerate to 60 new GW/year to meet 2030 renewable targets, she warns.
