The European Commission activates emergency measures to reduce red tape

And accelerate the deployment of renewable energy

As part of a series of initiatives to reduce the EU's reliance on Russian fossil fuels, the European Commission announced today emergency measures to speed the deployment of renewable energy.

The proposed measures would classify renewable power plants as "overriding public interest" in order to eliminate bottlenecks in new permitting procedures and would include immediately simplified and accelerated permitting for the installation of solar equipment on artificial structures, the repowering of renewable energy power plants that are nearing the end of their economic life, and the expedited deployment of heat pumps.

According to the EU Commission, the new measures would target energy types and projects with the greatest potential for rapid deployment and the smallest environmental impact.

REPowerEU, the EU's €300 billion initiative to reduce European reliance on Russian fossil fuels through measures like the deployment of renewable and clean energy capacity, was proposed in May 2022 and includes steps to address slow and complex permitting procedures. The current measures, however, are in response to calls from the European Council for quick action to expedite regulatory procedures in order to expedite the implementation of renewables in light of the deteriorating energy market scenario.

As specified in the RePowerEU strategy, the European Union is already in the process of expanding the deployment of renewable energy capacity. Tuesday at the COP27 summit, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated that the EU is on track to double its deployment of renewables to 50 GW this year and that it plans to double again next year to a record 100 GW.