REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL 2022 Report on the Achievement of the 2020 Renewable Energy Targets
Date: 2022-11-15
Institutions: Directorate-General for Energy, European Commission
Subjects: EU energy policy, circular economy, energy cooperation, energy market, energy saving, greenhouse gas, reduction of gas emissions, renewable resources, soft energy

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 15.11.2022  COM(2022) 639 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL 2022 Report on the Achievement of the 2020 Renewable Energy Targets  
 
 
1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Renewable energy is a key element in the EU’s fight against climate and environmental-related 
challenges as also highlighted in the State of the Energy Union report, published on 18 October 
2022.1 Under the European Green Deal2, the European Commission has proposed a new strategy 
to transform the EU economy and society and to put it on a more sustainable path. The increased 
ambitions to  reduce net  greenhouse  gas emissions by  at  least  55% by 2030, compared to  1990 
levels, and to become the first climate neutral continent by 2050, can only be achieved with an 
integrated  energy  system,  largely  based  on  renewable  energies.  Therefore,  the  Commission 
proposed in July 2021 to amend Directive (EU) 2018/2001 on the promotion of the use of energy 
from renewable sources (RED II)3 and increase the share of renewable energy in the gross final 
energy consumption in 2030 to at least 40%4, up from the ambition of at least 32% set in RED II.  

Following  Russia’s  unprovoked  and  unjustified  military  aggression  against  Ukraine,  the  EU 
published  its  REPowerEU  Plan5  with  the  aim  of  rapidly  reducing  the  EU’s  dependence  on 
Russian  fossil  fuels.  The  REPowerEU  Plan  proposes  an  additional  set  of  measures  to  save 
energy,  diversify  supplies,  and  quickly  substitute  fossil  fuels  by  accelerating  Europe’s  clean 
energy  transition.  To  deliver  on  the  REPowerEU  Plan,  it  will  be  necessary  to  accelerate  and 
frontload  the  deployment  of  renewable  energies  and  transform  industrial  processes  to  replace 
gas, oil and coal. As part of the REPowerEU Plan, the Commission presented a new proposal to 
amend RED II6. Therein, the Commission proposes raising the 2030 renewable energy target to 
at least 45%. Through further simplification and shortening of the administrative procedures for 
permit-granting,  strategic  planning  carried  out  by  the  Member  States  and  fostering  projects  in 
areas particularly suitable for the deployment of renewable energy, the proposal aims to ensure a 
faster roll-out of renewable energy projects.  

Renewable  energy  is  therefore  key  to  achieving  climate  goals,  security  of  supply  and 
independence from Russian energy imports. 

The  2030  framework  for  support  of  renewables  builds  on  the  progress  made  under  Directive 
2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (RED I)7, which was 
in force until 30 June 2021. Under RED I, Member States had to meet individual national targets 
for 2020, which were consistent with an EU-wide renewable energy target  of at  least  20%. As 
Article 27 of the Governance Regulation (EU) 2018/19998 requires, Member States had to report 

1 COM(2022) 547 final.  
2 COM(2019) 640 final. 
3 Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 on the promotion 
of the use of energy from renewable sources, OJ L 328, 21.12.2018, p. 82. 
4 COM(2021) 557 final. 
5 COM(2022) 230 final. 
6 COM(2022) 222 final. 
7 Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use 
of energy from renewable sources, OJL 140, 5.6.2009. p. 16. 
8  Regulation  (EU)  2018/1999  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  11  December  2018  on  the 
Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action, OJ L 328, 21.12.2018, p. 1. 

 
 
                                                           
to the Commission on the achievement of their national renewable energy targets for 2020 by 30 
April 2022.  

The  information  provided  by  the  Member  States  in  their  reports,  complemented  with  the  data 
from  Eurostat  and  available  scientific  literature9,  is  summarised  and  analysed  in  the  present 
document.  

This  Commission’s  report  consists  of  five  chapters.  Following  the  introduction,  Chapter  2 
provides an overall EU level assessment on the progress in deploying renewable energy. Chapter 
3 examines the previous findings in the light of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chapter 
4 adds a more detailed analysis of the findings in the individual Member States, including best 
practice examples. Chapter 5 provides the conclusions. 

2.  EU PROGRESS IN DEPLOYING RENEWABLE ENERGY  

In  2020,  the  EU  reached  a  share  of  22.1%  of  renewable  energy  in  gross  final  energy 
consumption, thus exceeding the 20% share aimed at under RED I. On average, the overall 
renewable energy share has been increasing by 0.8 percentage points annually since 2011, with a 
much stronger increase of 2.2 percentage points between 2019 and 2020. Also, in the individual 
sectors – electricity, heating and cooling, and transport – the shares of renewable energy have 
increased steadily over the last decade.  

The  relative  share  of  renewables  was  largest  in  the  electricity  (RES-E)  sector  with  a 
contribution  of  37.5%  in  2020.  The  sector  saw  an  especially  strong  increase  of  2  percentage 
points  from  2018  to  2019  and  of  3.4%  from  2019  to  2020.  The  share  of  renewables  in  the 
heating and cooling (RES-H&C) sector reached 23.1% in 2020 and has thereby increased by 
5.7 percentage points in the last ten years. For the transport (RES-T) sector, the shares reached 
10.2% in 2020; overall, the development was less dynamic and slower.  

9 A main contributor is the following technical assistance report “Assessment of Member States’ reports for the year 
2020” [DOI 10.2833/12592] by Guidehouse Germany GmbH, published on 7 October 2022. The study is contracted 
by the European Commission.  

 
 
 
 
                                                           
Figure 1. EU-27 RES-shares 2011-2020 (%). Source: Eurostat SHARES.

Bioenergy continues to be the main source of renewable energy in the EU, with a share of 58.1% 
in 2020. Wind power follows with 14.3%, hydropower with 12.4%, solar energy (6.9%), ambient 
heat (5.5%) and geothermal energy (2.9%). 

For  bioenergy,  solid  biofuels  represent  the  largest  share  with  69.5%.  The  other  forms  of 
bioenergy are liquid biofuels (12.9%), biogas (10.6%), the renewable share of municipal waste 
(6.9%) and charcoal (0.2%).  

Figure 2. Gross EU consumption of renewable energy per type (2020, % and Mtoe). Source: Eurostat. 

RES-E sector  

Between  2011  and  2020,  the  share  of  RES  technologies  in  the  total  electricity  generation  has 
seen  a  continuous  increase.  In  2020,  for  the  first-time,  onshore  wind  held  the  largest  share  in 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
RES-E technologies with 350 TWh production in 2020, followed by 345 TWh for hydro, solar 
photovoltaics (PV) with 139 TWh, solid biomass with 83 TWh, biogas with 56 TWh, offshore 
wind  with  47  TWh.  Geothermal  electricity  (6  TWh),  solar  thermal  (5  TWh)  and  bioliquids  (5 
TWh) played minor roles in the RES-E mix. 

The installed RES-E generation capacity observed in 2020 corresponds to the results shown for 
RES-E production above. In 2020, the technology with the highest installed capacity was wind 
onshore with 162.5 GW with a significant increase from 2019 to 2020 of 7.4 GW added. Hydro 
had the second largest generation capacity (150.8 GW), however, its total installed capacity has 
remained largely unaltered with an increase of only 6.5 GW in the last 10 years. Hydropower is 
followed  by  solar  PV  which  increased  from  117.9  GW  in  2019  to  135.7  GW  in  2020  (+17.7 
GW). Wind offshore increased from 12 GW in 2019 to 14.5 GW in 2020. Biomass (15.6 GW), 
Biogas (11.7 GW), Bioliquids (1.2 GW) and Geothermal (0.9 GW) had a relatively smaller share 
of the RES-E generation capacity in 2020. 

Figure 3. RES-E generation capacity in the EU-27 for 2011-2020. Source: Eurostat SHARES.

The quicker development of RES-E compared to RES-T and RES-H&C has been facilitated by 
the reduction of technology costs over time.  

More specifically, in the Onshore Wind sector, overall installation, operation, and maintenance 
costs as well as Levelized Costs of Electricity (LCOE) have decreased in the last decade due to 
economies  of  scale,  larger  competition,  and  the  maturation  of  the  industry.  Between  2010  and 
2020,  the  global  weighted-average  LCOE  declined  by  54%  from  USD 0.089/kWh  to  USD 
0.041/kWh. Additionally, onshore wind turbine technology has significantly advanced in the past 
years.  Factors  like  increased  hub-heights,  greater  rotor  diameters,  and  larger,  more  reliable 
turbines have all promoted increased capacity. 

 
 
 
 
 
In  the  Offshore  Wind  Sector,  the  global  weighted-average  LCOE  declined  by  48%  between 
2010 and 2020, from USD 0.162 to USD 0.084/kWh, with a 9% reduction year-on-year in 2020. 
These  reductions  have  been  driven  by  technology  improvements  as  well  as  industry  related 
factors, such as growing developer experience and greater production standardisation. 

Significant  cost  reductions  can  also  be  observed  in  the  Solar  PV  sector.  Between  2010  and 
2020, the global weighted-average LCOE of utility-scale PV plants declined by 85% from USD 
0.381/kWh to  USD 0.057/kWh.  At the same time, production has continuously been expanded 
and optimized, and overall, the efficiency of the modules has been increased.  

RES-H&C sector  

The consumption of renewable energies in the RES-H&C sector has increased gradually over the 
last decade.10 In 2020, RES-H&C consumption at EU-level reached 100 561 ktoe. Solid biomass 
was the largest renewable energy contributor to the sector with 79 151 ktoe. Energy consumption 
from heat pumps stood at 13 316 ktoe, biogas at 4 055 ktoe, solar thermal heating at 2 503 ktoe, 
bioliquids at 669 ktoe and geothermal heating at 867 ktoe. 

Compared to  2004 (11.7%), the share of renewably-sourced  energy in  heating and cooling has 
practically  doubled  in  the  European  Union.  This  expansion  can  be  attributed  to  lower  heating 
needs, but most of all to the increase in renewable heat from heat pumps. The European Union-
wide  heat  pump  market  data  for  2020  confirm  its  increased  deployment  in  the  heating  and 
cooling  segment,  spurred  partially  by  policies  in  several  countries  favourable  to  electrifying 
heating needs (e.g. France, Finland, Sweden) and the increase in summer cooling needs for the 
area  of  reversible  heat  pumps  in  cooling  mode.  Other  sectors  apart  from  heat  pumps  have 
boosted the increase in total renewable heat consumption – biogas, renewable municipal waste, 
solar  energy  and  bioliquids.  Between  2019  and  2020,  the  distribution  between  the  various 
renewable heat  sectors  worked to  the detriment  of solid biofuel  (from 76.3 to  75%) and to  the 
benefit  of  heat  pumps  (from  11.8  to  12.7%).  The  biogas  share  rose  from  3.6  to  3.9%,  the 
renewable municipal waste share from 3.7 to 3.8%, solar from 2.3 to 2.4%, geothermal energy 
remained at 0.8% and bioliquids from 1 to 1.1%11. 

10  Since  the  Delegated  Act  establishing  the  methodology  to  calculated  renewable  cooling  was  adopted  on  14 
December 2021, the renewable heating and cooling shares for 2020 do not yet include contribution from renewable 
cooling. 
11 https://www.eurobserv-er.org/category/all-annual-overview-barometers/ . 

 
 
 
                                                           
Figure 4. Production of heating and cooling from RES-H&C technologies in the EU-27 for 2011-2020. Source: 
Eurostat SHARES.

RES-T Sector  

Overall, the consumption of renewable energies in the RES-T sector has increased steadily over 
the last decade.  The consumption of biodiesel  and bioethanol  had stagnated between 2014  and 
2016 but has been increasing ever since. Due to the high contribution of biodiesel and bioethanol 
to  the  RES-T  sector,  the  development  of  these  biofuels  has  led  to  a  growth  in  biofuel 
consumption in total since 2016. The most widely used fuel over the full period was biodiesel, 
which is also the largest contributor to RES-T in 2020, with 13 164 ktoe. The use of renewable 
electricity  for  transport  has  significantly  increased  over  the  last  10  years.    A  particularly  large 
increase took place in the road transport sector which moved from 10 ktoe in 2011 to 112 ktoe in 
2020. However, compared to the other transport modes, especially rail transport, the contribution 
of electricity in road transport is still minor. Consumption of food and feed crop based-biofuels 
continues to represent a large share of renewable energy consumption in transport (10 808 ktoe 
or 4.5% of transport energy consumption in 2020) while the consumption of advanced biofuels 
was lower but increased significantly in recent years (1 224 ktoe in 2020). 

 
 
 
 
 
Figure 5. Consumption of energy in transport (RES-T) in the EU-27 for 2011-2020. Source: Eurostat SHARES.

3.  COVID-19 EFFECTS  

The share of renewable energy of 22.1% in the EU as a whole was also affected by lower overall 
energy  consumption due to  the  COVID-19  pandemic.  It  had  a  severe impact on the level of 
energy  demand  in  the  Member  States,  also  when  taking  into  account  other  factors,  such  as 
weather  fluctuations  and  implementation  of  energy  efficiency  policies  which  may  also  have 
played a role in the decrease of the total gross final consumption in a given year. In the whole of 
the  EU,  final  energy  consumption  dropped  by  8%  compared  to  2019.  The  decrease  varied 
between Member States with Luxembourg (-13.7%) and Spain (-12.3%) registering the highest 
drop in consumption, whereas Sweden (-2.4%) and Romania (-1.4%) only experienced a slight 
decrease.   

On  the  supply  side,  in  general  terms,  RES  generation  was  less  affected  than  other  energy 
sources. Power plants operating on solar, wind and pure hydropower could run their operations 
since  their  ability  to  generate  electricity  depends  on  weather  and  not  on  demand.  Similarly, 
electricity production from dispatchable RES like biomass appeared to be hardly affected since 
their  operation  is  largely  driven  by  RES  support  (which  in  general  was  not  affected  by  the 
COVID-19 pandemic). For biofuels in transport or biomass used for heating purposes, however, 
the crisis associated with lower demand had visible impacts12. 

These factors translated into a shift towards a higher share of RES generation in the power 

12 Klessmann, C., Sach, T., Grigiene, M., et al., Technical assistance in realisation of the 5th report on progress of 
renewable energy in the EU final update report. Task 1 & 2, Publications Office of the European Union, 2021. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
mix13  which  was  only  partially  due  to  the  actual  new  installed  capacity.  Overall,  it  can  be 
concluded  that  lower  energy  consumption  made  target  achievement  easier  for  the  Member 
States. 

4.  DETAILED ASSESSMENTS OF MEMBER STATES PROGRESS  

4.1.  Overall renewable energy shares per Member State  

The renewable energy shares in 2020 vary widely across Member States, reflecting the different 
starting positions and national targets set for each Member State in RED I. Sweden achieved the 
highest  renewable  energy  share  in  2020  (60.1%),  followed  by  Finland  (43.8%)  and  Latvia 
(42.1%).  The  lowest  renewable  energy  shares  were  seen  in  Malta  (10.7%)  and  Luxembourg 
(11.7%).  Despite  their  low  overall  renewable  energy  share,  Malta  and  Luxembourg  increased 
their renewable energy shares from 2019 to 2020 by +2.5 percentage points and +4.7 percentage 
points, respectively (including statistical transfers).  

Considering  both  national  deployment  and  currently  notified  statistical  transfers,  all  Member 
States  except  from  France  achieved  a  share  equal  to,  or  higher  than,  their  2020  binding 
renewable  energy  target  under  RED  I.  Some  Member  States  exceeded  their  targets  by  far; 
Sweden was 11.1 percent points above its target, Bulgaria 7.3 percentage points, and Finland 5.8 
percentage points.   

Figure 6. Overall RES shares with and without statistical transfers vs. 2020 RES targets. Source: Eurostat SHARES; 
RED I Directive.

13 EIA, Covid-19 impact on electricity report, 2021, Covid-19 impact on electricity – Analysis - IEA .   

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
4.2. 

Progress  in  the  individual  sectors:  electricity,  heating  &  cooling  and 
transport 

In  the  RES-E  sector,  Austria  had  the  highest  RES-E  share  in  2020  with  a  share  of  78.8%, 
followed  by  Sweden  (74.5%)  and  Denmark  (65.3%).  Malta  (9.5%),  Hungary  (11.9%)  and 
Cyprus (12.4%) had the lowest RES-E share of all Member States in 2020. 

Figure 7. RES-E share per Member State in 2020. Source: Eurostat SHARES.

In the Heating and Cooling sector, Sweden (66.4%) had the highest share of renewable energy 
in 2020, followed by Estonia (58.8%), Finland (57.6%) and Latvia (57.1%). In contrast, Ireland 
(6.3%), the  Netherlands  (8.1%) and Belgium  (8.4%) had the lowest  renewable energy share in 
Heating and Cooling.  

 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 8. RES-H&C share per Member State in 2020. Source: Eurostat SHARES.

In the transportation sector, the highest shares can be observed in Sweden, where the RES-T 
share  stood  at  31.9%,  followed  by  Finland  (13.4%)  the  Netherlands  and  Luxemburg  (both 
12.6%). Among all Member States, Greece (5.3%), Lithuania (5.5%), Poland and Hungary (both 
6.6%) showed the lowest RES-T share in 2020. 

Figure 9. Share of renewable energies in transport in the EU-27 for 2011-2020. Source: Eurostat SHARES.

4.3.  Cross-border collaboration and the use of cooperation mechanisms  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
RED I foresees four different types of cooperation mechanism: statistical transfers, joint projects 
between  Member  States,  joint  projects  between  Member  States  and  third  countries  and  joint 
support  schemes.  Out  of  these  mechanisms,  Member  States  made  most  intensive  use  of  the 
statistical  transfers14.  Lithuania,  Luxembourg,  Estonia,  Belgium,  Finland,  Czech  Republic, 
Slovenia, Malta, Netherlands and Ireland participated in statistical transfer agreements that took 
effect in 2020; some of the participating Member States achieved their binding renewable energy 
target for 2020 as a result of statistical transfers. An overview of the statistical transfers and their 
quantities is presented below. 

Figure 10. Statistical transfers that took effect in 2020. Source: Eurostat SHARES. 

Member State – Seller 

Member State – Buyer 

Lithuania 
Estonia 
Denmark 
Finland 
Czech  Republic 
Finland 
Lithuania 
Finland 
Estonia 
Denmark 
Estonia 
Denmark  

Luxembourg 
Luxembourg 
Belgium 
Belgium (Flanders) 
Slovenia 
Belgium (Flanders) 
Belgium (Brussels Capital) 
Belgium (Flanders) 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Ireland  
Ireland  

Amount  of  RES  statistics 
(GWh) 
250 
400 
1800 
250 
465 
20 
152 
1650 
20 
13650 
2500 
1000 

The  other  cooperation  mechanisms  remained  largely  unused,  whereby  the  already  established 
joint  support  schemes  between  Germany  and  Denmark  and  Sweden  and  Norway  continued  to 
deliver  results15.  Nevertheless,  the  cross-border  collaboration  in  the  form  of  joint  projects  is 
expected to be further incentivized following the implementation of the new instruments that are 
set  up  at  EU  level,  notably  the  Renewable  Energy  Financing  Mechanism16  and  the  renewable 
energy window of the Connecting Europe Facility17.  

14 A study on the cooperation mechanism and their implementation can be found at: 
https://energy.ec.europa.eu/cooperation-between-eu-countries-under-res-directive-0_en 
15 For 2020, the joint support schemes resulted in statistical transfers of 50.84 GWh from Denmark to Germany and 
of 2644 GWh from Sweden to Norway. 
16 https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/renewable-energy/financing/eu-renewable-energy-financing-mechanism_en.  
17 https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/renewable-energy/financing/financing-cross-border-cooperation_en.  

 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
4.4.  Measures taken to achieve the 2020 national renewable targets18 

As  set  out  under  Article  27(b)  Governance  Regulation  (EU)  2018/1999,  Member  States  were 
required  to  provide  specifically  information  on  measures  taken  to  achieve  the  2020  national 
renewable energy targets, including on support scheme measures, guarantees of origin (GO) , 
and the simplification of administrative procedures .  

4.4.1.  Support scheme measures  

RES-E Sector  

In the RES-E sector, different combinations of support schemes have been implemented in the 
Member  States  according  to  their  reports  in  recent  years.  Among  the  support  schemes  used  to 
support  RES-E  generation  were  feed-in  premiums  (FIP)19,  often  combined  with  auctioning 
systems,  quota  systems,  tax  incentives,  net  metering,  subsidies,  loans,  and  feed-in  tariffs  were 
also used to support RES-E generation. While the support schemes provided differ per Member 
State, almost all Member States have at least two support schemes that provide specific support 
to different technologies, plant sizes, and actors.  

A general trend is the transition from administratively set feed-in tariffs (FIT) towards feed-
in  premium  schemes  that  facilitate  a  higher  market  integration  of  renewables.  Moreover, 
support  is  provided  more  often  following  competitive  auctions.  19  Member  States  have 
implemented  auctions  for  RES-E  support  until  2020.  This  trend  continued  also  after  2020: 
Belgium (2021) and Romania (2022) launched auctions for wind and solar projects and 4 other 
Member States are also considering introducing auctions for RES-E support20.  

18 Based on the “Assessment of Member States’ reports for the year 2020”, which included submitted Member State 
reports as well as reports from the previous project “Technical assistance in realisation of the 5th report on progress 
of renewable energy in the EU”, European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy, Horváth, G., Schöniger, F., 
Zubel, K. et al., Technical assistance in realisation of the 5th report on progress of renewable energy in the EU : task 
1-2 : final report, Publications Office, 2020, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2833/325152 . 
19 In a FIP, renewable energy is sold on the electricity spot market and producers receive a payment on top of the 
market  price  (source:  Feed-in  Premiums  (FIP)  -  energypedia  ).  While  under  a  fixed  FIP  the  received  premium  is 
independent  from  the  market  price  and  thus  remains  constant,  sliding  FIP  schemes  pay  out  varying  premiums 
depending on the development of the market price, calculated based on the difference between market prices and a 
reference electricity price (source: Feed-in Premiums (FIP) - energypedia). If the sliding FIP is allocated through an 
auction, projects bid on a total remuneration level (€c/kWh) and the premium is determined ex-post, based on the 
reference electricity prices (source: FIP, fixed or sliding - AURES II (aures2project.eu). A Contract for Difference 
(DfDs) is a special case of a sliding FIP, in which both positive and negative deviations from a fixed reference price 
are  paid  out.  It  entitles  the  beneficiary  to  a  payment  equal  to  the  difference  between  a  fixed  ‘strike’  price  and  a 
reference price  – such as a  market price, per unit of output (COM (2022/C 80/01);  source: What is a  contract for 
difference? (next-kraftwerke.com)).  
20 https://taiyangnews.info/tenders/romanias-950-mw-renewables-tender/ . 

 
 
 
                                                           
In  addition  to  FITs  and  FIPs,  all  Member  States  (except  for  Latvia)  implemented 
complementary  fiscal  measures,  including  subsidies,  loans,  and  tax  credits/exemptions,  to 
encourage the deployment of RES technologies. These fiscal measures ranged from investment 
subsidies  to  loan  programs  for  RE  power  plants.  Most  fiscal  measures  focused  on  a  specific 
technology, e.g. Germany’s support financing programme for offshore wind farms which started 
already in 2011, or the grant scheme of the installation of net-metering PV systems in residential 
buildings in Cyprus.  

Moreover, in 2020, Member States supported the deployment of smaller-scale RES-E systems 
in homes and communities. For instance, in this year, Belgium, Denmark, Lithuania, Hungary, 
the Netherlands, Poland, Greece, Italy, Cyprus and Latvia had net metering support schemes for 
prosumers in place. 

Several  Member  States  introduced  new  RES-E  support  schemes  in  2020:  For  example, 
Portugal  conducted  an  auction  for  PV  and  PV  plus  storage  to  allocate  a  feed-in-premium  and 
investment  grants.  Malta  completed  a  competitive  bidding  scheme  for  feed-in-tariffs  for  RES 
installations between 400kWp and less than 1 000kWp. Italy has put in place a legal framework 
for  energy  communities  and  collective  self-consumers  that  allows  end  users/producers  to  join 
together to share locally generated electricity. 

RES-T Sector 

In the RES-T sector, the most noticeable trend in 2020 is the growing implementation of fiscal 
support schemes that target the uptake of electric or plug-in vehicles directly, e.g. through tax 
exemptions,  direct  subsidies  or  bonuses  to  the  purchase  of  electric  vehicles,  or  support  the 
development of charging infrastructure.  

In 2020, Greece, the Netherlands, Spain and Hungary introduced support schemes that promote 
e-mobility,  primarily  by  offering  subsidies  to  the  purchase  of  electric  vehicles.  Spain 
implemented  a  support  programme  called  MOVES  II  which  includes  support  to  encourage  the 
purchase  of  electric  vehicles  and  the  installation  of  charging  infrastructures.  The  SPP  subsidy 
scheme introduced in the Netherlands provides subsidy options for consumers that want to buy 
fully electric cars for private use. Hungary launched a tendering system for  electric vehicles in 
which individuals and companies can apply for different levels of support for the purchase of an 
electric vehicle. Greece introduced a law that provides tax incentives to promote the purchase of 
electric vehicles.  

Besides  the  increasing  support  to  electric  vehicles  and  sustainable  mobility,  the  predominant 
support scheme for RES-T in the EU continues to be a quota obligation for renewable fuels. In 
2020  all  countries  in  the  EU  use  an  obligation  scheme,  predominantly  a  quota,  as  the  main 
support scheme to increase the share of RES-T. While the quota schemes differ in detail, they all 
require fuel suppliers to supply a certain proportion of renewable fuels or to use renewable fuels 
to reduce the average greenhouse gas emission intensity of transport fuels. The required shares 
are generally increasing year by year, and often targeted a 10% share by 2020.  

RES-H&C Sector 

 
 
Overall,  fewer  support  schemes  have  been  implemented  in  the  RES-H&C  sector  than  in  the 
RES-E sector. Member State support is primarily focused on investment support, either through 
subsidies  or  loans.  In  2020,  22  Member  States  provided  investment  support  in  the  form  of 
subsidies,  12  Member  States  used  (in  addition  or  instead  of  subsidies)  loans  to  support  the 
deployment of RES-H&C technologies.  

The  existing  support  instruments  generally  apply  to  a  wide  range  of  technologies,  but  most 
support goes to heat production from biomass. Other commonly supported technologies include 
geothermal,  aerothermal,  and  hydrothermal  heat  pumps,  as  well  as  solar  thermal  systems.  In 
addition to promoting the adoption of RES-H&C technologies, Member States’ support schemes 
also focus on energy conservation and energy efficiency measures. 

In 2020, some Member States, including Hungary, the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland and some 
Austrian  regions,  have  introduced  new  RES-H&C  support  schemes,  focusing  primarily  on 
improving the energy efficiency of homes and installing heat pumps.  

4.4.2.  Guarantees of Origin  

As specified by the Recast of the Renewable Energy Directive (Directive (EU) 2018/2001) (RED 
II), Guarantees of Origin (GOs) have the purpose of demonstrating to final consumers the share 
or quantity of energy from renewable sources in a determined supplier’s energy mix and in the 
energy  supplied  to  consumers  under  contracts.  Member  States  shall  ensure  that  the  origin  of 
energy from renewable sources can be guaranteed as such within the meaning of the Directive, in 
accordance with objective, transparent and non-discriminatory criteria. 

Overall,  the  number  of  GOs  issued  have  been  steadily  increasing  since  201121.  Some  Member 
States presented a faster growth in GOs, for example, Spain went from a 3%-share of total GOs 
issued in EU-27 in 2011 to 17% in 2020. Austria, evolved from 2% in 2011 to 9% in 2020, and 
France moved from 7% to 12% in 2020.  

21 Early adopters in 2011 were Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, 
Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. 

 
 
 
 
                                                           
Figure 11. Annual issuing of GO certificates per country. Source: AIB Statistics22.

Article  19  of  RED  II  prescribes  furthermore  that  Member  States  shall  ensure  that  when  a 
producer receives financial support from a support scheme, the market value of the guarantee of 
origin for the same production is taken into account appropriately in the relevant support scheme. 
Therefore,  Member  States  have  different  ways  to  account  for  supported  electricity  and,  in 
general, different ways to set their GO systems.  

Based  on  the  technical  assistance  report23,  some  Member  States  issue  GOs  also  to  supported 
renewable  energy.  This  is  the  case  for  Greece,  Finland,  the  Netherlands,  Czechia,  Estonia, 
Cyprus,  Lithuania,  Poland,  and  Romania.  For  instance,  in  Cyprus  “issuing  of  GOs  to  RES 
producers  is  independent  of  any  support  received,  e.g.  investment  support  or  feed  in  tariff 
premium. Revenues from GOs will thus be an additional benefit to producers. Producers have to 
get approval from RES Fund for trading GOs”.  

A second approach is not to issue GOs to supported electricity, or to issue GOs but  cancelling 
them right away. Belgium, Germany, Spain, Ireland, Malta, Austria, and Slovenia. In Austria for 
example, GOs are issued for supported and non-supported renewable energy, but only the GOs 
from  non-supported  renewable  energy  plants  can  be  traded  internationally,  whereas  supported 
GO must be used for Austrian disclosure purposes24.  

Third, Member States can opt for issuing GOs to supported renewable energy but these GOs are 
centrally  auctioned  to  compensate  for  the  support  costs.  In  this  category  we  find  Italy, 
Luxembourg, France, Portugal, Croatia, Slovakia, and Hungary. For example, in Italy, GOs for 

22 Original data source, AIB statistics  https://www.aib-net.org/facts/market-information/statistics . Collected and 
analysed by Guidehouse. 
23  Technical  assistance  report  “Assessment  of  Member  States’  reports  for  the  year  2020”  [DOI  10.2833/12592]  by  
Guidehouse Germany GmbH, published on 7 October 2022. The study is contracted by the European Commission. 
24 https://www.aib-net.org/facts/national-datasheets-gos-and-disclosure.  

 
 
 
 
                                                           
supported  renewable  energy  have  been  auctioned  since  2013.  The  revenues  accrued  from  the 
auctions are used to compensate the cost of the supported renewable energy. 

4.4.3.  Simplification of administrative procedures  

RED II established requirements for the Member States to streamline and simplify administrative 
procedures. Although RED II had to be transposed only by 30 June 2021, some Member States 
already had a number of such simplification measures in place in 2020 or earlier. 

According  to  their  reporting,  10  Member  States  have  set  up  some  sort  of  one-stop-shop 
approach  or  national  contact  point.  For  example  in  Finland,  the  Centre  for  Economic 
Development,  Transport  and  the  Environment  (ELY  Centre)  of  South  Ostrobothnia  has  been 
designated as  the contact  point  for the permit-granting process  for the  whole territory in  2020. 
The  contact  points  shall,  upon  request  by  the  applicant,  guide  through  and  facilitate  the  entire 
administrative  permit  application  and  granting  process.  The  applicant  shall  not  be  required  to 
contact  more  than  one  contact  point  for  the  entire  process.  The  permit-granting  process  shall 
cover the relevant administrative permits to build, repower and operate plants for the production 
of energy from renewable sources and assets necessary for their connection to the grid25. 

In a few cases the lack of reply of the administration by a deadline leads to automatic approval 
of permits. For instance, the Netherlands’ have put rules in place for permits for physical aspects 
stating  that  “the  deadline  for  the  decision-making  process  under  the  standard  procedure  is  8 
weeks,  which  may  be  extended  once  by  further  6  weeks  at  most.  Missed  deadline  will 
automatically result in issue of a permit (under the principle of lex silencio positivo)”26. 

Some Member States have in place specific renewable energy spatial planning measures, such 
as maps indicating areas where RES could be developed. Such spatial planning can help reduce 
opposition from local communities and civil society organisations and address the issue of land 
scarcity. For instance, Spain elaborated two maps for wind and solar power, which classifies land 
into 5 environmental sensitivity classes for each type of project analysed (maximum, very high, 
high,  moderate  and  low).  However,  the  maps  are  only  informative  and  do  not  replace  the 
necessary administrative steps, such as the need for an Environmental Impact Assessment27. 

The situation regarding online application procedures and digitalisation of documents is mixed 
across the EU. While a few Member States  already  offer reliable and broad online procedures, 
most Member States only started to introduce more digital tools to ease the process. 

Most  Member  States  have  implemented  some  sort  of  simplification  for  small-scale  projects, 
such as solar PV installed in rooftops to facilitate self-consumption and energy communities. In 

25 https://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/alkup/2019/20190126.  
26 https://www.eclareon.com/de/projects/res-simplify.  
27 https://www.eclareon.com/en/projects/res-simplify. 

 
 
 
                                                           
addition, 15 Member States adopted a simplified notification procedure for grid connections of 
small-scale installations. 

4.5.  Best practice examples  

Looking at the successful Member States, a few lessons can be drawn for the coming decade: 

  A stable political context, with predictability of support schemes, auction schedules and 

available budget, provides stakeholders with investment predictability.  

  Putting a price on carbon and pollution in addition to the EU ETS is also key to allow 
renewables to compete on an equal footing. Sweden as the country with by far the highest 
RES share in  transport  with almost  32% introduced a carbon tax already back in  1991. 
Also Lithuania levies a general tax on environmental pollution with an exemption for the 
use of biogas, solid and liquid biomass for heating uses. This, together with other support 
measures,  e.g.  for  biogas,  have  led  to  a  high  share  of  renewables  in  the  heating  and 
cooling sector (50.4% in 2020). 

  Swift  permitting  procedures,  including  those  set  out  in  RED  II  and  the  REPowerEU 
proposal to amend RED , are essential to speed up the deployment of renewables to the 
levels  needed  to  achieve  the  revised  2030  target  and  hence  reduce  dependence  from 
Russian  fossil  fuels.  Single  contact  points  for  project  promoters  are  one  important 
element  to  facilitate  and  expedite  administrative  procedures28.  For  instance,  in  the 
Netherlands  key  permits  can  be  bundled  together  following  a  one-stop-shop  approach 
called “All-in-one Permit for Physical Aspects”29. The one-stop shop is through an online 
platform and there is only one responsible authority.  On the other side, as recommended 
by the European Commission in the REPowerEU plan, Member States should designate 
dedicated “go-to-areas” for RES with shortened and simplified permitting processes30. 
Some  Member  States  have  in  place  similar  measures,  such  as  maps  indicating  areas 
where  RES  could  be  developed,  but  with  limited  effect  as  they  are  not  linked  to  a 
dedicated  regulatory  framework  leading  to  faster  permit  granting.  For  instance,  the 
Spanish national government published two maps for wind and solar power, which show 
the territory classified into five environmental sensitivity classes for each type of project 
analysed  (maximum,  very  high,  high,  moderate  and  low).  More  examples  of  good 
practices in this area can be found in the Commission guidance on speeding up permit-
granting procedures for renewable energy projects. 

  Increasing  public  acceptance  of  energy  policies  and  projects  are  key  to  ensure  a 
successful  and  sustained  energy  transition.  This  includes  early  involvement  of  citizens 

28 Under RED II, this has become an obligation for all Member States. 
29 https://www.eclareon.com/en/projects/res-simplify. 
30 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_22_3131. 

 
 
 
                                                           
and possibly also financial incentives such as those e.g. created in Denmark31. The above-
mentioned guidance provides further examples. 

  The  use  of  waste-based  biofuels32  can  contribute  in  a  sustainable  way  towards  to  the 
decarbonisation  of  transport,  in  particular  in  modes  that  are  difficult  to  electrify, 
together with Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin. RED II sets a 3.5% target for 
the share of advanced biofuels in 2030. Since 2016, the EU  consumption has more than 
doubled to 1 224 ktoe in 2020. The lead Member States in this transition is Sweden with 
3.6%  share  of  Annex  IX  A,  followed  by  Estonia,  Finland,  Italy,  and  The  Netherlands, 
which were all above 1% in 2020.  

  While a substantial increase in deployment of renewables usually takes time,  dedicated 
policy  actions  can  yield  quick  results.  For  example,  in  2020,  Ireland  only  had  one 
community-owned wind farm. Since then, it has taken energy community focused actions 
driven  by  the  Renewable  Electricity  Support  Scheme  and  the  Community  Enabling 
Framework, resulting in the successful application of 17 new energy community projects 
which  are  benefiting  from  end-to-end  support  (financial  support  and  capacity  building 
services)  including    to  develop  and  operate  the  project.  Actions  include  a  community-
dedicated auction for operational support, the set-up of an energy community fund, and a 
dedicated annual grid connection process. 

5.  CONCLUSION 

By  achieving  the  2020  targets  at  EU-level  and  for  all  but  one  Member  State,  the  RED  I 
framework  proved  to  be  successful  in  delivering  the  envisaged  increase  in  the  consumption  of 
energy  from  renewable  energy  sources.  However,  it  is  clear  that,  in  order  to  achieve  the  new 
REPowerEU target of 45% proposed by the Commission, a steep increase in the deployment of 
renewable  energy  will  be  required  -  almost  a  tripling  of  the  average  annual  increase  of  0.8 
percentage points over the last decade.  

Urgent  and  full  transposition  of  the  2018  Renewable  Energy  Directive  RED  II  is  key  for  the 
success  of  the  energy  transition  since  it  lays  the  foundation  of  a  wider  rollout  of  RES.  The 
Commission  is  currently  checking  the  transposition  and  has  launched  infringement  procedures 
against all Member States, which are at different stages. Moreover, adoption and implementation 
of  the  revision  of  RED  II  -  and  its  accompanying  sectoral  measures  -  will  be  key  for  target 
achievement in 2030. The Commission’s proposal of 18 May 2022 aims at removing significant 
barriers  to  the  successful  deployment  of  RES  by  simplifying  and  shortening  permit-granting 
procedures.  The  Commission  therefore  calls  on  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  to 

31  The  scheme  comprises  a  compensation  scheme  for  citizens  whose  properties’  value  has  decreased  due  to  the 
installation  of  a  wind  farm;  a  community  benefit  scheme  to  promote  local  nature  restoration  projects  or  the 
installation of renewable energy sources in public buildings; and the possibility of co-ownership, which allows local 
http://aures2project.eu/wp-
energy 
shares 
citizens 
content/uploads/2019/12/AURES_II_case_study_Denmark.pdf. 
32 Feedstock included in Annex IX of the Renewable Energy Directive. 

from  wind 

purchase 

project, 

see 

to 

 
 
 
                                                           
 
adopt the proposal by the end of 2022 so it can enter into force as soon as possible. Moreover, 
Member  States  should  include  in  their  NECP  update  drafts,  foreseen  for  2023  national 
contributions in line with the 45% EU-wide target proposed by the Commission. 

It is still too early to make forecasts as regards the potential 2030 target achievement for the EU 
as a whole or  for individual  Member States. First  estimates suggest  that in  2021, the EU-wide 
renewable  energy  share  only  increased  slightly  (22.2-22.4%),  indicating  that  the  growth  in 
renewable energy consumption was approximately at the same level as the growth in final energy 
consumption linked with the economic recovery when COVID measures were eased or lifted33.  

Overall,  some  positive  developments  could  be  observed  in  several  sectors  recently,  indicating 
that  the  deployment  of  renewable  energies  is  progressing.  In  the  electricity  sector,  early 
indications suggest that 2022 will be a record year for the European solar PV market with annual 
deployment growth in the largest EU Member State markets between 17-26%34. In the transport 
sector, the latest quarterly report shows a 53% year-on-year growth in battery electric vehicles35. 
In the buildings sector, the latest market reports show for 2021 a rapid jump in the sales of air-to-
air heat pumps at European level, increasing by 34%36. In Finland, 75,000 heat pumps were sold 
during  the  first  six  months  of  2022,  an  increase  by  80  %  compared  with  the  same  period  last 
year37.  In  the  industry  sector,  2021  saw  a  record  year  for  corporate  renewable  power  purchase 
agreements (PPAs) with around 6.7 GW of new contracts signed38.  

Several  Member  States  have  already  made  ambitious  2030  pledges,  such  as  for  an  80%  RES-
electricity  share  in  Germany  and  even  100%  in  Austria  and  Estonia.  Portugal  brought  its  80% 
RES-electricity target forward by four years to already 2026. Moreover, the Netherlands almost 
doubled their 2030 offshore target 11.5 GW to 21 GW. 

33  Estimations  which  are  not  validated  by  the  Commission  can  be  found  in  EEA  Report  No  10/2022 
(https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/trends-and-projections-in-europe-2022)  and  Eurobserver  Press  Release 
‘2021 RES shares estimates’ (https://www.eurobserv-er.org/download-press-releases/).  
34 Global Market Outlook For Solar Power 2022-2026 - SolarPower Europe. 
35 quarterly_report_on_european_electricity_markets_q1_2022.pdf (europa.eu). 
36 2021_heat_pump_market_data_launch.pdf (ehpa.org). 
37https://www.sulpu.fi/record-high-sales-growth-of-80-recorded-for-heat-pumps-in-the-first-six-months-of-the-year-
in-finland/.  
38(SWD (2022) 149 final).