Negotiators of EU governments and the European Parliament have reached a provisional deal to boost the bloc’s renewable energy target to at least 42.5% by 2030 – with an additional indicative top-up that would allow it to reach 45%.
The purpose is to fast-track the deployment of renewable energies in the context of the EU’s REPowerEU plan to become independent from Russian fossil fuels, after the country’s invasion of Ukraine. The agreement includes accelerated permitting procedures for renewable projects.
The EU’s previous renewable energy target dating back five years was to achieve 32%.
The European Council, made up of member governments, and the bloc's parliament also provisionally agreed on specific sector targets for transport, industry, buildings, district heating and cooling in order to speed up the integration of renewables in sectors where decarbonisation has been slower.
The provisional agreement reached today now will be submitted to member states’ representatives in the council and then to parliament for approval. The directive then needs to be formally adopted by the European Parliament and Council.
Green power groups in first reactions welcomed the agreement.
“We're celebrating that the EU has set a path to at least 45% renewables this decade,” SolarPower Europe CEO Walburga Hemetsberger said.
“This sends a clear message to all stakeholders to prepare for system change. That means scaling investment, electricity grids, and our workforce.
“As for the indicative 2.5% target, the task now is to use the EU tools at hand to secure the top up.”
To reach faster permits, EU member states are asked to design renewable acceleration areas where green energy projects would undergo simplified and fast permit-granting procedures. Renewable energy deployment will also be presumed to be of ‘overriding public interest’, limiting avenues for legal objections – a measure Germany has already enacted.
