After several trilogue meetings and delays, the Council and Parliament negotiators finally came to a provisional agreement to raise the share of renewable energy in the EU’s overall energy consumption.
The target set in the commonly agreed text of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED III) revision is a 42.5% share of renewable sources in EU energy consumption by 2030 with an additional 2.5% indicative top up that would allow reaching 45%. The goal has been increased to align with the ambitious climate targets that the EU set to become climate neutral by 2050.
The struck deal is also speeding up procedures to grant permits for new renewable energy projects, but also to adapt existing plants, with a maximum period fixed at 18 months for national authorities to approve installations located in so-called ‘renewables go-to areas’. For areas falling outside of this category, the process can take up to 27 months max. These are specific locations, whether on land or sea, particularly suitable for the installation of plants for the production of energy from renewable sources, other than biomass combustion plants, where the deployment of a specific type of renewable energy is not expected to have significant environmental impacts.
Increased targets have been laid down for the transport sector (the possibility to choose between an emission reduction target or share of renewables) and set a binding combined sub-target of 5.5% for advanced biofuels (generally derived from non-food-based feedstocks). Increased targets for industry (annual 1.6% annually) and for heating and cooling (0.8% until 2026 and 1.1% from 2026 to 2030) have also been agreed upon.
When it comes to bioenergy, the sustainability criteria have been strengthened to avoid unsustainable energy production, with the application of the cascading principle to make sure that biomass is used according to its highest economic and environmental added value.
After almost two years from the initial Commission’s proposal, the two legislators will now have to formally vote on the text in order to come into law.