A directive is coming to double renewables in Europe by 2030, but the President of Sicily announces the blockade

An agreement has been reached between the negotiators of the Parliament and the European Council for the new directive to accelerate the development of renewable energy sources: the text of the agreement will be submitted to the Council and Parliament for final approval, which is now imminent.

The text provides that the share of renewable energy on gross European consumption, compared to 21.8% in 2021, should approximately double by 2030, to reach 42.5%, with the possibility of a supplementary indication of 2.5%.

A renewable quota of 45% had been proposed by the Commission with the REPowerEU Plan, also to reduce the dependence on energy imports from Russia and counter the high energy price, increasing the previous proposal which was at 40%. Doubling the share of renewable energy in gross final consumption – which adds up the consumption of electricity, fuel and thermal energy – in less than 7 years requires a considerable commitment, adequate conviction and technical and operational capacity.

The agreement provides for accelerated authorization procedures for renewable energy projects: without this acceleration, the leap forward in the next 7 years would not be feasible. Member States will have to designate acceleration zones where renewable energy projects will be subject to a simplified and rapid authorization procedure. The diffusion of renewable energies will also be declared to be of “overriding public interest”, to limit the grounds for legal objection to new plants.

To speed up decarbonisation of transportthe agreement provides for the choice between a binding target of 14.5% reduction in the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions thanks to the use of renewable energies, or a binding quota of at least 29% of energy renewables in final energy consumption in the transport sector, also by 2030. The agreement sets a binding combined sub-target of 5.5% for advanced biofuels (generally derived from non-food raw materials) ei renewable fuels of non-biological origin (mainly renewable hydrogen and hydrogen-based synthetic fuels) in the share of renewable energy supplied to the transport sector. As part of this objective, at least 1% of renewable fuels must be of non-biological origin.

The agreement provides that industry increases its use of renewable energies by 1.6% annually and that 42% of the hydrogen used in this sector must come from renewable fuels of non-biological origin by 2030 and 60% by 2035.

Agreement sets indicative target of at least 49% renewable energy for buildings in 2030. It also plans to gradually increase the renewable energy targets for the heating and coolingwith a binding increase of 0.8% per year at national level until 2026 and of 1.1% from 2026 to 2030. The minimum average annual rate applicable to all Member States is complemented by additional indicative increases calculated specifically for each member state.

One cannot fail to notice that, while steps are being taken in Europe to accelerate the growth of renewable energies, the president Renato Schifani from the Sicily Region you declare your intention to block the new solar plants because, in your opinion, they would not bring benefits to Sicily. In President Schifani’s statement, in addition to the usual prejudices on the impacts of renewables, there is no reference to the damage caused by climate crisis also in Sicily. Nor to the fact that in Sicily, in Catania, Enel Green Power is building a new large factory – with a thousand new jobs600 million euros of direct and indirect investments – with a production capacity of innovative solar panels, with a production capacity of 3 Gigawatts per year, 15 times higher than the current one.

(*Edo Ronchi is President of the Foundation for sustainable development)