REPowerEU Rules on Accelerated Permitting Apply to all Energy Storage – EQ Mag
The European Parliament, in plenary session, voted on the REPowerEU amendments to the Renewable Energy, Energy Performance of Buildings and Energy Efficiency Directives. Unveiled in May, the objective of the Directives is to strengthen European energy security, jeopardised by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The European Commission proposal outlined new rules to speed up renewable projects, but only included co-located energy storage under the projects that could access such favourable treatment. EASE welcomes the decision of the European Parliament to include all energy storage (standalone as well as co-located with renewables) under the new, accelerated permitting rules for renewable projects in identified go-to areas. Permitting is often a problem for energy storage developers, where the process can take years and changes dramatically from country to country. Similarly, it is positive that outside renewable acceleration areas the permitting procedure has also been streamlined. It is important in implementation to clarify that these procedures should be accessible to all energy storage – only including co-located storage would be a missed opportunity.
Setting clear timelines and developing better provisions on permitting for energy storage will render it even more attractive to investors and accelerate its deployment. EASE fully agrees that energy storage should be presumed to be in the overriding public interest in all permitting procedures. Energy storage can in fact support the growth of renewables in the energy system and ensure security of supply by providing its unique energy shifting ability, as well as its much-needed flexibility services.
The new Renewable Energy Directive draft is bound to positively impact the energy storage industry as a whole by unlocking several projects and speeding up facilities’ development all across the EU. If the European Union follows this path, the decarbonisation of the energy system can be successfully achieved.
