EU adopts new rules for renewable energy

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - BRUSSELS — European Union’s Council of Ministers adopted on Monday the new Renewables Energy Regulations to raise the share of renewable energy in the EU’s overall energy consumption to 42.5% by 2030.

The Council said in a statement that EU member states would choose between a binding target of 14.5% reduction of greenhouse gas intensity in transport from the use of renewables by 2030, or a binding share of at least 29% of renewables within the final consumption of energy in the transport sector by 2030.

Spanish acting Minister for the Ecological Transition Teresa Ribera said that “this is a great achievement in the framework of the ’Fit for 55’ package, which will help reaching the EU’s climate goal of reducing EU emissions by at least 55% by 2030.”

She also added that “It is a step forward which will contribute to reach the EUI’s climate targets in a fair, cost-effective and competitive way.”

She said, “The Council said in a separate statement that they also adopted on Monday the ‘ReFuelEU aviation’ initiative to reduce the carbon footprint of the aviation sector.

Spanish Acting Minister of transport Raquel Jimenez said that the new law will provide legal certainty to aircraft operators and fuel suppliers in Europe.

She added, “By kick-starting the large-scale production of sustainable aviation fuels, it will soon make the EU’s aviation sector much greener,”

She noted that this is a key step in our broader effort to reach our climate targets at European and global level.

The new regulation obliges aviation fuel suppliers to ensure that all fuel made available to aircraft operators at EU airports contains a minimum share of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) from 2025 and, from 2030, a minimum share of synthetic fuels, with both shares increasing progressively until 2050.

All member states will contribute to achieving more ambitious sector-specific targets in transport, industry, buildings and district heating and cooling.

The purpose of the sub-targets is to speed up the integration of renewables in sectors where incorporation has been slower.

The new rules establish a binding combined sub-target of 5.5% for advanced biofuels (generally derived from non-food-based feedstocks) and renewable fuels of non-biological origin (mostly renewable hydrogen and hydrogen-based synthetic fuels) in the share of renewable energies supplied to the transport sector.

Within this target, there is a minimum requirement of 1% of renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs) in the share of renewable energies supplied to the transport sector in 2030.

The directive states that industry will need to increase the use of renewable energy annually by 1.6%. Member states agreed that 42% of the hydrogen used in industry should come from renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs) by 2030 and 60% by 2035.

The new rules set an indicative target of at least a 49% renewable energy share in buildings in 2030.

Renewable targets for heating and cooling will gradually increase, with a binding increase of 0.8% per year at national level until 2026 and 1.1% from 2026 to 2030.

The minimum annual average rate applicable to all member states is complemented by additional indicative increases calculated specifically for each member state.

The directive strengthens the sustainability criteria for the use of biomass for energy, in order to reduce the risk of unsustainable bioenergy production.

Member states will ensure that the cascading principle is applied, with a focus on support schemes and with due regard to national specificities.

Permit procedures for renewable energy projects will be accelerated. The intention is to fast- track the deployment of renewable energies in the context of the EU’s REPowerEU plan to become independent from Russian fossil fuels, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. — Agencies