The European Union is immersed in the review of its regulations to promote renewable energies, one of the ways towards which the Commission points as a recipe to moderate electricity prices and break with the dependence on fossil fuels that is generating so many problems.
In the midst of the energy crisis, the European Parliament is expected to approve this Wednesday its proposal to set new clean source targets for the end of this decade.
The text, which is expected to go ahead, advocates reaching a 45% share of renewables by 2030.
In other words, 45% of all final energy consumption by the end of this decade will come from clean sources.
Reaching this goal is not a minor challenge, especially if one takes into account that it implies doubling the current quota: in 2020, 22.1% of the energy consumed in the Twenty-seven was from renewable sources —21.2% in the case of Spain.
But the European need to cut greenhouse gas emissions drastically to meet its international commitments to fight climate change is also joined by the obligation to break with dependence on fossil fuels, mostly imported.
The community climate law shields the objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the EU, which by 2030 must have been reduced by 55%, taking as a reference those of 1990. And, to adjust to this goal, the European institutions have to amending a good number of directives and regulations.
That of renewables —which until now established a clean energy quota of 32% by the end of this decade— is one of the most important.
The negotiations to change these rules are three-way: once the European Parliament sets its position this week, discussions will begin between the European Parliament (which will defend that 45% quota for green energy in 2030), the European Commission (which will also advocates 45%) and the Council, the body in which the leaders of the Twenty-seven sit, traditionally less ambitious.
At the moment, the latter defends a 40% share.
“It would be a bad sign for governments not to be ambitious at this time;
I think the final result will be closer to 45% than 40%”, says Nicolás González Casares, a socialist MEP who has participated in the creation of the text that the plenary session of the European Parliament votes this week.
The text of the proposal that will be voted on Wednesday has already passed through the energy committee of the European Parliament, with the support of a large majority: socialists, popular, Greens and Renew (liberals).
“Parliament's proposal does not differ much from that of the Commission”, explains González Casares.
In addition to setting the general objective of implementing renewables, the directive will establish some sectoral goals, such as measures to promote them in construction, transport and industry.
It is also intended to promote hydrogen generated from renewable sources.
According to Casares's calculations, the new directive —which must also incorporate measures to speed up the implementation of wind and photovoltaic energy, whose projects often take forever— may be ready in January or February of next year.
Although this regulation will not set specific national targets, as was the case until 2020, its approval will have a significant impact on national policies: all EU countries will have to tighten their targets.
The main instrument to do so is the integrated national energy and climate plans, in which the Twenty-seven set out their roadmaps for this decade.
Audited by the European Commission, they must be updated before June 30 of next year.
By then it is expected that the new directive on renewables will be approved and, therefore, the new levels of green energy will have been set.
Spanish law
Approved in May 2021, the Spanish law on climate change also establishes that next year the objectives of cutting emissions and implementing renewables must be updated upwards.
The rule now requires a 23% cut in greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 compared to 1990. By then, in addition, 42% of the final energy consumed must be of renewable origin, a figure that must reach at least 74% in the electrical sector.
These same objectives are included in the current National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (Pniec).
When Spain presented the document, some voices doubted that it would be possible to comply with it.
The facts, however, seem to run along another track: today —somewhat less than two years later and through the pandemic and energy crisis— this roadmap is heading for an upward revision.
The Ministry for the Ecological Transition opened a public consultation in August to update that plan.
The process closes next Thursday.
But the department headed by Vice President Teresa Ribera stresses that "renewable targets are going to increase upwards."
The reasons for this bluntness are multiple: “European regulations are driving up the penetration of renewables, hydrogen must be incorporated, the impact of the European recovery plan must be taken into account —which allocates more than 40% of the funds to promoting to the ecological transition—and also the acceleration of the change in the energy model caused by many measures adopted to deal with the impact of the war in Ukraine…”, they develop from the ministry.
"Before the energy crisis it already seemed that the Pniec was going to fall short, but now, with Europe's intention to step on the accelerator, there is no doubt that it will be a substantial increase," says Francisco Valverde, from the Mint Energy consultant.
How many?
"I do not know.
But there is a revealing fact: there are projects that add up to 150 gigawatts (GW) of power that already have access permission from Red Eléctrica, and that is several Pniec [the plan foresees an increase of 30 GW of photovoltaic and 22 GW of wind until 2030]”.
The important thing, in his opinion, is that "all the facilities" are given so that the new facilities crystallize as soon as possible.
“In renewables, it takes infinitely less time to build than all the previous bureaucracy.
That's where the real bottleneck is."
And that is where the new European directive, which is expected to close at the beginning of next year, also intends to have an impact.
"Permissions must be accelerated and they increase the social acceptance of projects," says MEP González Casares.
Other authoritative voices, however, focus their analysis on the challenges posed for Spain by meeting objectives that, even in their current version, are already ambitious.
“We should be mounting six GW [of renewables] a year and we are installing two.
You have to be careful about setting goals that are too high, because the paper can withstand everything, but if you don't meet it, you can lose credibility," warns Pedro Linares, professor at the Higher Technical School of Engineering at the Universidad Pontificia de Comillas.
"We are still far away and we are seeing more and more resistance at the local level, especially with the large parks, which are the ones that allow you to really grow."
The also co-founder and director of the Economics for Energy analysis center refers to the growing social opposition to this type of project,
Added to that difficulty is another factor: the higher up you are, the more difficult it is to integrate the new power into the system.
"We will need to increase storage to avoid discharges at certain nodes and times, which, in turn, can discourage investment," Linares warns.
A challenge, that of saving energy at times of greatest generation to consume it when demand reaches its peak, which the next Pniec must also address.
Limitations to biomass burning
One of the most controversial issues regarding the European push for renewables is that of biomass, that is, the burning of organic matter to generate electricity or feed heating.
The Community Executive has proposed limiting the use of biomass and that in certain cases it stop counting towards the renewable energy targets, contrary to what is happening now.
Environmental groups warn that encouraging this type of practice leads to increased deforestation and implies more greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere.
The proposal that will be voted on Wednesday in the European Parliament establishes a definition of "primary woody biomass" that seeks to establish limitations on the use of trees to generate energy.
The intention of the majority groups in the Chamber and the European Commission is to reduce the presence of wood in the renewable quota and restrict access to financial aid.
The proposal establishes a "gradual reduction" of the weight of biomass in the final accounting of the renewable energy targets for 2030. Regardless of what finally comes out of the vote on Wednesday, its consideration as green energy is emerging as one of the great points of conflict in the negotiation of the future directive on renewables.
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