The European Commission has presented a draft Council Regulation establishing a framework for accelerating the implementation of renewable energy solutions, which aims to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy sources. The Regulation will be in force for one year and will cover the time necessary for adoption and transposition into national law.
The Commission is proposing a maximum deadline of one month for the permitting process for solar energy equipment and its co-located storage and grid connections when it is not installed on natural ground. The proposed Council Regulation also exempts these installations from the need to carry out certain environmental assessments. Introducing the concept of ‘positive administrative silence’ in the relevant permit-granting procedures aims to promote and accelerate the deployment of small-scale installations.
Proposal streamlines the permit-granting process applicable to the repowering of renewable energy projects by including all the relevant environmental assessments in the new maximum deadline of six months. The proposal also specifies that the environmental assessments should be limited to assessing the potential impacts resulting from the change or extension compared to the original project. Furthermore, it introduces a simplified procedure for grid connections in cases where the repowering doesn’t exceed a 15% increase in total capacity compared to the original project.