According to a draft version of the EU’s future Solar Energy Strategy obtained by EUROPE on Tuesday 10 May, the European Commission intends to propose a four-pronged strategy covering: - solar rooftops; - issuing permits for solar energy projects; - training of a skilled workforce; - the solar energy industry.
The aim is to develop solar energy in order to contribute both to the EU’s climate objectives and to strengthening its energy independence.
“EU solar energy has a significant potential to rapidly become a mainstream part of our power and heat systems and a main lever to achieve the European Green Deal objectives while phasing out our dependence on Russian fossil fuels”, the document says.
While the precise target in terms of installed solar energy capacity has yet to be defined, the draft proposes provisional targets of bringing more than 300 GW of solar photovoltaic energy into service by 2025 (more than double the 2020 level) and more than 500 GW by 2030. These figures will have to be updated “based on new scenarios being developed”, the document nevertheless states.
In a letter to the Commission on 4 May, five Member States called for a European target of at least 1 TW of PV capacity by 2030 (see EUROPE 12946/18).
European Solar Rooftops Initiative
In order to fully exploit the potential of rooftop solar production, the Commission states that “immediate action at EU and Member State level is needed by the end of 2022”.
The institution is therefore planning a ‘European Solar Rooftops Initiative’ with a series of measures to be implemented as a priority.
According to the draft, it intends, in particular, to propose to the Member States to: - make the installation of rooftop solar energy compulsory for all new buildings (this measure is nevertheless highlighted in yellow in the text and could therefore be subject to modification); - install solar energy in all suitable public buildings fit for this purpose by 2025; - limit the length of permitting for rooftop solar installations to a maximum of 3 months; - set up at least one renewable energy community in every municipality with a population higher than 10.000 by 2025.
If fully implemented, the initiative will produce 17 TWh of additional renewable electricity after the first year (17% more than the ‘Fit for 55’ projections) and 42 TWh by 2025 (35% more than the ‘Fit for 55’ projections), the draft says, although it notes that these figures are yet to be updated.
‘EU Solar Industry Alliance’
The Commission also intends to propose the creation of an ‘EU Solar Industry Alliance’.
Bringing together European, national, regional and local authorities, industry players, research institutes and other stakeholders in the solar photovoltaic (PV) value chain, the alliance would aim to develop an “innovation-led expansion of a resilient industrial solar value chain in the EU, in particular in the PV manufacturing sector”.
It would include a research and innovation pillar, closely linked to Horizon Europe, and would play a brokering role between producers and offtakers to facilitate the financing of projects while monitoring developments in the sector.
The launch of the Alliance will be accompanied by a Recommendation to the Member States on EU Solar manufacturing in order to address bottlenecks to production upscaling, including permitting procedures for new solar PV manufacturing, the draft says.
EU Solar Skills Partnership
In addition, the Commission wants to establish an EU Solar Skills Partnership as part of a large partnership for onshore renewable energy under the ‘European Pact for Skills’.
This partnership would bring together the relevant actors in the renewable energy sector (industry, regional and national authorities, social partners, research and innovation institutions, education and training providers), with the aim of developing a clear vision of the concrete training and retraining measures needed to ensure a sufficient skilled solar energy workforce.
In addition, the Commission plans to adopt a legislative proposal (see other news), a Recommendation and a guideline to simplify and speed up the permitting procedures for renewable energy projects.
These initiatives, together with the final version of the Solar Energy Strategy, are expected to be presented as part of the REPowerEU plan scheduled for 18 May (provisional date).
See the draft Solar Energy Strategy: https://aeur.eu/f/1kk (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)