EU nations have reached a final agreement on the 42.5pc share of renewable energy in final energy consumption by 2030, replacing the bloc's 32pc target for that date.

The agreement came after the European Commission acknowledged that nuclear power can be used towards the goal. This had been a key obstacle in negotiations for nations such as France that rely heavily on nuclear.

“I welcome this ambitious European agreement obtained on the Renewable Energy Directive [Red],” says French minister for the energy transition Agnes Pannier-Runacher. “Europe now recognises the role of nuclear alongside renewables in achieving our decarbonisation goals.”

Ammonia exemption

The agreement—which updates the EU’s existing Red—specifies that industry must increase its use of renewable energy annually by 1.6pc and that 42pc of the hydrogen used in industry should come from renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs) by 2030 and 60pc by 2035.

42.5pc – EU’s target share of renewables in final energy consumption by 2030

RFNBOs are manufactured by electrolysis rather than being made from fossil fuels. However, in another last-minute tweak, the Commission added a clause that allows some grey ammonia plants to be excluded from the target percentage calculations if they can demonstrate they have begun the conversion process from grey to green ammonia—which is produced using electrolysis rather than steam methane reforming.

“The Commission acknowledges that meeting the target… will, in certain cases, entail high adaptation costs of plants which require retrofitting,” says the Commission statement.

“The Commission, on a case-by-case basis and when duly justified, will not take into account these existing plants while considering whether they have been fully amortised and when the [FID] has been taken.”

Alongside the nuclear acknowledgement, this exemption was a key factor in getting the deal approved.

Further aspects

Other aspects of the deal were agreed by the Council of the EU on Friday. In the transport sector, member states are able to choose between a binding target of a 14.5pc reduction of greenhouse gas intensity in transport through the use of renewables by 2030, or a binding share of at least 29pc of renewables within the final consumption of energy in the transport sector by 2030.

The agreement also sets a binding combined sub-target of 5.5pc for advanced biofuels and RFNBOs in the share of renewable energies supplied to the transport sector in 2030. Within this target, there is a minimum requirement of 1pc of RFNBOs.

The agreement sets an indicative target of at least a 49pc renewable energy share in buildings in 2030 and provides for a binding increase in the share of renewables used in heating and cooling of 0.8pc/yr until 2026 and 1.1pc from 2026 to 2030 at a national level.

It also includes accelerated permitting procedures for renewable energy projects, requiring member states to pre-approve suitable areas of land and sea for renewable developments. Additionally, renewable energy deployment will be presumed to be of “overriding public interest”, limiting the grounds for legal objections to new installations.

Finally Fit for 55

The agreed reforms to the Red are a final key part of the European Commission’s Fit for 55 climate package, presented in July 2021, which aims to reduce the EU’s emissions by 55pc below 1990 levels by 2030. On Friday the Refuel Aviation package—another outstanding part of Fit for 55—was also finally approved.

Other aspects of Fit for 55 that have already been approved address energy efficiency, expansion of charging infrastructure, sustainable maritime fuels, the emission trading system, the carbon border adjustment mechanism, the Effort Sharing Regulation, the Land Use, Land-use Change and Forestry Regulation and stricter carbon dioxide emissions standards for cars and vans.

“The Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU has succeeded in finalising the EU’s climate package,” says Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson. “It will reduce the EU’s overall emissions by 55pc by 2030 and make Europe the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050.”

The latest changes to the Red still need to be approved by the European Parliament before that aspect of the package becomes law.

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Author: Tom Young