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Renewable energy directive: Three key measures to speed up deployment

(EurActiv, 1 Jun 2023) The EU’s updated renewable energy directive includes numerous measures to fast-track projects. Meeting the EU’s updated 2030 target for renewables will now require swift implementation by EU Member States, write Marian Bons and Agustin Roth.

Marian Bons and Agustin Roth are experts with Guidehouse, a global management consultancy advising energy providers, corporations, and the public sector.

EU policymakers reached a political agreement on revising the Renewable Energy Directive (RED III), raising the EU’s binding renewable target for 2030 to a minimum of 42.5%. While France is currently blocking the adoption of REDIII, the new provisions to speed up RES permitting procedures are uncontroversial.

One hurdle that prevents the acceleration of the energy transition is complex and long permitting procedures. With RED III, Member States must soon implement numerous measures to speed up permitting for renewable energy (RES) projects.

Three key measures are presented in this article. Some of these measures were already introduced as temporal rules in the EU Council emergency regulation 2022/2577 of December 2022 and will now become permanent with the inclusion in RED III.

Simplified rules for “renewables acceleration areas”

A key measure of RED III is the definition of so-called renewables acceleration areas (go-to-areas in earlier drafts of RED III). RES projects in these areas benefit from reduced legal requirements and shorter, simplified permitting processes.

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EurActiv, 1 Jun 2023: Renewable energy directive: Three key measures to speed up deployment