Representatives of European wind and solar power generation expressed concern about the new permit rules of the European Union, which were presented on November 10. They are planned to be extended only to new projects.
The Euractiv publication writes about it.
It is noted that the European Commission presented temporary emergency rules to accelerate the implementation of RES. They said that the long-term energy crisis caused by Russia's war in Ukraine requires exceptional measures.
According to the European Commission's proposal, renewable energy projects "will be considered to be of higher public interest" and will benefit from shorter permit procedures, from one month for rooftop solar to six months for large wind farms.
Wind and solar industry representatives are concerned about the wording of the regulations, which indicate that fast-track permitting rules should only apply to new projects. For the RES industry, this means that hundreds of gigawatts of solar and wind projects will be stuck in the administrative process.
"It makes no sense to apply it only to new projects," said Giles Dixon, director general of industry association WindEurope.
According to him, there are projects in Europe for at least 100 GW of wind and solar energy, which are currently stuck in the procedures for obtaining permits. And they will not be affected by emergency permit rules if the proposal is approved.
Representatives of solar generation are also concerned.
"Currently, in the EU-27 countries, there is a very significant amount of projects that are at various stages of development," says Dris Ake, political director of the SolarPower Europe industry association.
Currently, the European Commission's proposal is being considered by the member states of the European Union. Energy ministers of the bloc countries are to meet in Brussels on November 24 to reach a political agreement on this issue.
As EcoPolitic reported earlier, on October 24 the European Commission presented the Action Plan, which is designed to increase its efficiency and the integration of renewable energy sources through the digitalization of the energy sector.
