Joint letter on the Final Adoption of the Renewable Energy Directive

The revised Renewable Energy Directive will be central to delivering our energy security and climate objectives as set out in REPowerEU, Europe’s energy response to the Ukraine war.

We welcome the overall political agreement reached in March; however, the embedded target will remain purely academic without delivery measures. We are highly concerned that the adoption of these measures is held up by a disagreement within the Council on exemptions regarding a sub-target for using renewable fuels of non-biological origin.

This disagreement is delaying the implementation of provisions, in particular on permitting, that are indispensable to the accelerated development of renewables. According to the International Energy Agency, renewable energy auctions in Europe went undersubscribed by 14 GW in the last year, mainly due to slow and cumbersome permitting.

Therefore, there is the urge to ensure the final adoption of the Renewable Energy Directive. 

Aurélie Beauvais, Managing Director of Euroheat & Power, said:

“By 2035, at least 50% of the energy supply for efficient District Heating systems must come from renewables and waste heat sources. The fast adoption of the renewable energy directive is a pre-requisite to accelerate the deployment of renewable heat and electricity sources in Europe and develop much-needed de-risking frameworks to recover excess heat sources in urban and industrial areas.”