PURPOSE: to adopt new rules in the field of renewable energies with a view to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, energy dependency and energy prices.
LEGISLATIVE ACT: Directive (EU) 2023/2413 of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive (EU) 2018/2001, Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 and Directive 98/70/EC as regards the promotion of energy from renewable sources, and repealing Council Directive (EU) 2015/652.
CONTENT: the new Renewable Energy Directive aims to increase the share of renewable energy in the EU's overall energy consumption to 42.5% by 2030, with an additional indicative target of 2.5% intended to help reach the 45% target. Each Member State will contribute to this common target.
Member States will set an indicative target for innovative renewable energy technologies of at least 5% of newly installed renewable energy capacity by 2030.
All Member States will contribute to more ambitious sectoral targets in the transport, industry, buildings and district heating and cooling sectors.
Mapping for the deployment of renewable energy
Member States will be required to carry out coordinated mapping for the deployment of renewable energy and related infrastructure on their territory, in coordination with local and regional authorities. They will identify the terrestrial, surface and underground areas, and the maritime and inland water areas required for the establishment of renewable energy installations and related infrastructure, in order to meet their national contributions to the revised global renewable energy target for 2030.
By 21 February 2026 at the latest, Member States must ensure that the competent authorities adopt one or more plans designating renewables acceleration areas for one or more types of energy source.
Transport
Member states will have the possibility to choose between:
- a binding target of a 14.5% reduction in 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.
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.
Buildings, heating and cooling
Member States will determine an indicative national share of renewable energy produced on-site or nearby as well as renewable energy taken from the grid in final energy consumption in their building sector in 2030 that is consistent with an indicative target of at least a 49% share of energy from renewable sources in the building sector in the Union’s final energy consumption in buildings in 2030.
Each Member State will increase the share of renewable energy in this sector by at least 0.8 percentage points calculated as an annual average for the period 2021-2025 and by at least 1.1 percentage points calculated as an annual average for the period 2026-2030. The minimum annual average rate applicable to all Member States is complemented by additional indicative increases calculated specifically for each Member State.
Industry
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.
Member States will have the possibility to discount the contribution of RFNBOs in industry use by 20% under two conditions: (i) if the Member States’ national contribution to the binding overall EU target meets their expected contribution the share of hydrogen from fossil fuels consumed in the Member State is not more 23% in 2030 and 20% in 2035.
Bioenergy
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.
Faster permits for projects
Permitting procedures for renewable energy projects will be accelerated. The duration of the permitting procedure will not exceed twelve months for renewable energy projects in renewables acceleration areas. However, in the case of offshore renewable energy projects, the permit-granting procedure will not exceed two years.
The duration of the permit procedure must not exceed (i) three months for the installation of solar energy and co-located energy storage equipment, including building-integrated solar installations, in existing or future man-made structures, excluding artificial water bodies; (ii) one month for the installation of solar energy equipment with a capacity of 100 kW or less, including for self-consumers of renewable energy and renewable energy communities; (iii) one month for the installation of heat pumps of less than 50 MW.
ENTRY INTO FORCE: 20.11.2023.
TRANSPOSITION: 21.5.2025.