National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) drawn up by EU member states are “badly lacking in policy detail” and will leave the bloc short of its 2030 renewables target, warned WindEurope.

Draft NECPs submitted to Brussels are rated “insufficient” or “poor” for every EU nation in analysis released by the industry body at the opening of its annual conference and exhibition in Bilbao.

All member states have to submit draft plans and then turn them into firm strategies that can help deliver the EU’s aim of an overall 32% share of renewable energy by the end of the next decade.

WindEurope said some member states are promising high volumes of renewables deployment – but none has a detailed policy agenda to achieve the goals, “which means the pledges are not meaningful”.

Key issues not addressed include schedules of renewables auctions, measures to simplify and speed up permitting, and strategies to deal with renewables capacity reaching the end of its life – the situation facing an estimated 60GW of wind by 2030.

Increasing penetration of renewables in heating and transport is another gaping hole, and not one nation has a plan to simplify corporate renewable PPAs – an “explicit mandate” of the EU’s latest Renewable Energy Directive, said WindEurope.

“National governments need to fill these big gaps,” said WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson. “When are the renewables auctions happening? How much are you auctioning? How are you going to make it easier to get permits for wind farms?”

Dickson added: “It’s clear answers to these sorts of questions that encourages the renewables industries to invest, and means we can plan ahead and further reduce costs. And we’ll invest in those countries that have the clearest Plans. So it pays for governments to get them right.”

European energy ministers are meeting in Romania today (Tuesday) to discuss the draft plans, which have to be turned into finalised versions by the end of 2019.

The NECPs were created by the European Commission in an effort to ensure all member states do their bit to help meet the EU's overall climate goals, in the absence of legally-binding obligations on individual nations under the 2030 policy mechanism.