Solar, heat pumps: the EU wants to simplify and speed up authorizations

As part of the ambitious European climate plan, a legislative project aimed at strengthening the deployment of renewable energies had already been presented by the Commission in July 2021, and is currently the subject of tight negotiations between MEPs and Member States.

Pending the final agreement on this text and its transposition into national law, Brussels is therefore proposing provisional measures applicable as soon as they are approved by the States and without consulting the European Parliament, with a view to "remedying the + bottleneck + of the procedures permissions that hinder the accelerated deployment of projects".

The objective is to target "the specific technologies and projects which have the greatest potential for rapid deployment and the least impact on the environment, to contribute to our energy security" at a time when the EU is looking all-out to reduce its dependence on Russian hydrocarbons.

The EU executive proposes that renewable energy infrastructure should be "presumed to be of overriding public interest", allowing new authorization procedures to benefit from a "simplified assessment" and the derogations provided for in environmental regulations.

In addition, in order to speed up the deployment of heat pumps, Brussels wants to speed up the procedures for granting permits, which can no longer exceed three months. Grid connections will automatically be allowed for pumps up to 12 kW.

The Commission also proposes to restrict to a maximum period of one month the authorization process for the installation of photovoltaic panels on existing buildings or structures, and for their connection to the network.

These solar installations would be exempt from environmental impact assessment. And for small installations, Brussels even suggests that the approval be tacit, via the notion of "positive administrative silence".

Finally, for any increase in the power of existing renewable energy infrastructures (solar, wind farms, geothermal energy, etc.), the granting of the permit will have to take a maximum of six months, including the environmental assessments, which would be limited.

In this context, the authorization procedure for connections to the electricity networks of all renewable energy infrastructures will be limited to one month and drastically simplified, in cases where the increase in total capacity does not exceed 15%. .

Boosting the power of existing sites "offers significant potential for rapidly increasing electricity production from all renewable sources", according to the Commission.

By July 2023, Brussels will be able to propose extending the application of these emergency measures if it deems it necessary, in particular “depending on the evolution of security of supply and energy prices”.

With this proposal, "of limited duration and scope", "we will be able to unlock a myriad of renewable energy projects from the next twelve months", argued Commission President Ursula von der Leyen before the European Parliament.

"According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), we could already replace 14 billion m3 of gas next year (...) just by speeding up the authorization procedures for these projects", she indicated.

Renewable energy capacities in the EU are expected to increase by more than 50 GW in 2022, a record year, including an increase of 40 GW for solar photovoltaic installations alone, mainly rooftop panels, according to the Commission. But solar deployment must accelerate to 60 new GW/year to meet renewable targets for 2030, she warns.