45%! EU RAISES RENEWABLE ENERGY TARGETS, ACCELERATES INDEPENDENCE

45%! EU RAISES RENEWABLE ENERGY TARGETS, ACCELERATES INDEPENDENCE

As the EU grapples with the fallout of the war in Ukraine and a rampant energy crisis, the European Parliament has expressed support for the bloc's plan to raise its renewable energy target.

On September 14, the members of the European Parliament (MEP) voted to increase the share of renewable energy in the EU energy mix to 45% by 2030, according to the revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED). That's up from the 40% target reached in June, which itself was revised up from 32%.

This objective is also supported by the European Commission as part of the REpowerEU strategy. The REpowerEU strategy targets 320GWac/400GWdc of installed solar PV by 2025 and nearly 600GWac/740GWdc by 2030. Nonetheless, this still falls short of the requirements of some countries and industry groups.

European Parliament calls for greater development of renewable energy to decarbonize sectors such as transport and industry

The strategy is at risk due to the absence of PV manufacturing in the EU, and the announcement comes against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and subsequent tensions with Russia. Russia has shut down the important Nordstream 1 project, and the much-anticipated Nordstream 2 project has been canceled.

The move promises to fundamentally reshape Europe’s energy regime, with a report published on July 14 by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) urging Eastern Europe and China to Sub-countries increase development rates based on recent events.

Europe receives as much as half of its natural gas from Russia alone, and the cessation of Russian gas imports has exacerbated an energy crisis across the region, with individual member states and more in the EU scrambling to ease the situation by stepping up renewable energy development and other measures. In some cases, fossil fuel extraction will also increase.

The EU has proposed several measures. The measures will see solar PV plants across the European Union be subject to temporary income caps under new proposals aimed at helping energy consumers lower their electricity bills. Others have suggested a windfall tax on the real profits of renewable energy companies, which are generally doing very well in the current crisis.

"Only the expansion of renewable energy means true independence. We strongly support raising the 2030 target to 45 percent," said Markus Pieper, head of the European Environment Ministry's renewable energy directive, who also called for greater cross-border cooperation to expand renewable energy. Renewable energy development.

In fact, as part of the proposal, each EU member state must develop two cross-border projects to expand the use of clean electricity. Countries that consume more than 100TWh of electricity per year must develop a third project by 2030.

Disparities in renewable energy capacity within and between member states have also raised concerns. There are fears that the energy transition will leave some communities that have historically survived on fossil fuel jobs. In light of this, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed to provide 10 billion euros of support to the regions most affected by the transition.

Finally, the new legislation also defines "sub-targets" for different sectors such as transport, buildings and district heating and cooling. For the transport sector, renewable energy development should reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 16%, while industry should increase its renewable energy use by 1.9% per year and district heating networks by 2.3%.

The text was adopted by 418 votes in favour, 109 against and 111 abstentions. MEPs and the Czech presidency of the Council will consult on these proposals, and we will continue to follow them.