In a draft report dated 5 September, MEP Markus Pieper (EPP, German), the European Parliament’s rapporteur on the revision of the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (‘RED II’), suggests speeding up the planning and authorisation procedures for renewable energy projects by strengthening the European Commission’s proposals.
This draft report deals with the part of the Commission’s ‘REPowerEU’ plan to amend parts of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED II - 2018/2001), the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD - 2010/31) and the Energy Efficiency Directive (2012/27) (see EUROPE 12955/4).
In order to reduce administrative barriers to the deployment of renewable energy technologies, Pieper wants to include an interpretation in the RED Directive “that sets specific conditions under which renewable energy projects and related network infrastructure must apply EU environmental law”.
It also proposes to speed up the procedures for reclassifying land. According to its draft report, plans drawn up by Member States to designate areas suitable for the establishment of renewable energy capacity (so-called ‘renewables acceleration areas’) would thus lead to an automatic change of land use to allow the construction of renewable energy installations.
In the context of the permit procedure, the absence of a response from the competent authority within the time limit will result in the specific administrative steps being considered approved, the document further states. However, this would not affect the granting of basic permits, such as environmental impact assessments.
Furthermore, Pieper wants Member States to be obliged to report to the Commission on the duration of permitting procedures in renewables acceleration areas, as well as outside of them, in order to assess the effectiveness of measures to accelerate these procedures and to correct them if necessary.
Include biomass
With regard to “renewables acceleration areas”, the rapporteur proposes to include biomass combustion plants in this concept, in the interests of “technological neutrality”.
He also believes that hybrid generation facilities combining different renewables should be explicitly covered by the licensing processes, as well as the development and expansion of grid capacities needed for renewable energy deployment.
Mr Pieper will present his draft report to the Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) on Monday 26 September, one day before the deadline for the tabling of amendments.
See the draft report: https://aeur.eu/f/36x (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)