In order to reduce the dependence on Russian energy imports and to accelerate the expansion of renewable energies, the REPowerEU package has been presented in May this year. It is planned to significantly reduce the approval procedures for PV and wind energy plants.
Since the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED IV), which is part of the REPowerEU package, will still take some time, a proposal has now been drawn up to simplify the approval procedure and bridge this time gap. The measures would initially apply for one year, but could be extended if necessary, and are intended to shorten the permitting process as quickly as possible.
In practical terms, the Commission explained that member states should classify renewable energy projects as projects of higher public interest. According to EU environmental legislation, such projects could then immediately benefit from simplified permitting.
The Commission wants to further simplify the permitting procedures for plants with a capacity of less than 50 kW, since those usually do not have a major negative impact on the environment and do not require capacity expansion at the location where they are connected to the grid. The Commission reinforced this by pointing out that the self-consumption of small-scale systems helps operators to keep their electricity costs manageable. Furthermore, a plant is to be automatically deemed approved if the relevant authorities do not respond to the application within one month.
This proposal helps to significantly reduce waiting times for small-scale installations on company roofs and private households.
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