Renewable Energy
The Renewable Energy Directive is the legal framework for the development of renewable energy across all sectors of the EU economy, and supports cooperation across EU countries.
Since the introduction of the Renewable Energy Directive (2009/28/EC) in 2009, the deployment of renewables has kept growing yearly, reaching 21.8% of energy consumed in the EU in 2021.
The Renewable Energy Directive was revised in 2018. The Renewable Energy Directive (2018/2001/EU)entered into force in December 2018, as part of the Clean energy for all Europeans package, aimed at keeping the EU as a global leader in renewables and, more broadly, helping it to meet its emissions reduction commitments under the Paris Agreement.
The directive establishes a new binding renewable energy target for the EU for 2030 of at least 32%, witha clause for a possible upwards revision by 2023. This target is a continuation of the 20% target for 2020.
It introduces new measures for various sectors of the economy, particularly on heating and cooling and transport, where progress has been slower (for example, an increased 14% target for the share of renewable fuels in transport by 2030). It also includes new provisions to enable citizens to play an active role in the development of renewables by enabling renewable energy communities and self-consumption of renewable energy. It also establishes strengthened criteria to ensure bioenergy’s sustainability.
In July 2021, the Commission proposed another revision to accelerate the take-up of renewables in the EU and to help reaching the 2030 energy and climate objectives. The directive sets a common target – currently 32% – for the amount of renewable energy in the EU’s energy consumption by 2030. The proposed revision and the REPowerEU plan, presented in May 2022, suggest further evolution of the target to accelerate the take-up of renewables in the EU, including by speeding up the permitting processes for the deployment of renewables.
The ambition and measures in the Renewable Energy Directive have been reviewed several times in order to deliver the urgent emission cuts (at least 55% by 2030) that are required to achieve the EU’s increased climate ambitions. In July 2021, the Commission proposed a revision of the directive with an increased 40% target as part of the package to deliver on the European Green Deal. In May 2022, the Commission proposed in its Communication on the REPowerEU plan to further increase this target to 45% by 2030.
The revision of the Directive also introduces new measures to complement the already existing building blocks established by the 2009 and 2018 directives to ensure that all potentials for the development of renewable energy are optimally exploited, which is a necessary condition to achieve the EU’s objective of climate neutrality by 2050. These include notably strengthened measures to support renewables uptake in transport, heating and cooling, seeking to convert into EU law some of the concepts outlined in the energy system integration and hydrogen strategies, published in 2020. These concepts aim at creating an energy efficient and circular energy system based on renewable energy that facilitates renewables-based electrification and promotes the use of renewable and low-carbon fuels, including hydrogen, in sectors where electrification is not yet a feasible option, such as transport.
