L 335/38
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
29.12.2022
(9)
This reflects the important role that renewable energy can play in the decarbonisation of the Union’s energy system, by offering immediate solutions to replace fossil-fuel based energy and by addressing the aggravated situation in the market.
In order to eliminate bottlenecks in the permit-granting process and operation of renewable energy plants in the planning and permit-granting process, the construction and operation of energy plants from renewable sources and the development of the related grid infrastructure should be given priority when balancing legal interests in the individual case, at least for projects which are recognised as being of public interest.
As regards the protection of species, this priority should only be given if, and to the extent that, appropriate species conservation measures contributing to the maintenance or restoration of the populations of the species at a favourable conservation status are undertaken and sufficient financial resources, as well as areas, are made available for this purpose.
(10)
Solar energy is a key source of renewable energy to put an end to the Union’s dependency on Russian fossil fuels while achieving the transition towards a climate-neutral economy.
Solar photovoltaic energy, which is one of the sources of electricity available that costs least, and solar thermal technologies, which provide renewable heating at low cost per unit of heat, can be rolled out rapidly, and can be of direct benefit to citizens and businesses.
In this context, in line with the Communication from the Commission of 18 May 2022 entitled ‘EU Solar Energy Strategy’, the development of a resilient industrial solar value chain in the Union will be supported, including through the Solar PV Industry Alliance that will be launched at the end of 2022.
Accelerating and improving permit-granting processes for renewable energy projects will help underpin the expansion of the Union’s clean energy technology manufacturing capacity.
The current circumstances and, in particular, the very high volatility of energy prices call for immediate action to ensure significantly faster permit-granting processes in order to significantly accelerate the pace of the installation of solar energy equipment on artificial structures, which is generally less complex than installation on the ground, and which can rapidly contribute to mitigate the effects of the current energy crisis, provided that grid stability, grid reliability and grid safety are maintained.
Those installations should therefore benefit from shorter permit-granting processes compared to other renewable energy projects.
(11)
The maximum deadline for the permit-granting process for the installation of solar energy equipment and its related co-located storage and grid connections in existing or future artificial structures created for purposes different than solar energy production should be of 3 months.
A specific derogation from the requirement to carry out environmental impact assessments under Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) should also be introduced for those installations given that they are not likely to raise concerns related to competing uses of space or environmental impact.
Investing in small decentralised solar energy installations to become renewable self-consumers is one of the most efficient means for energy consumers to reduce their energy bills and their exposure to price volatility.
Member States should be allowed to exclude certain areas or structures from the scope of this shorter deadline and this derogation for certain justified reasons.
(12)
Self-consumption installations including those for collective self-consumers, such as local energy communities, also contribute to reducing overall natural gas demand, to increasing resilience of the system and to the achievement of the Union’s renewable energy targets.
The installation of solar energy equipment with a capacity below 50 kW, including installations of renewables self-consumers, is not likely to have major adverse effects on the environment or the grid and does not raise safety concerns.
In addition, small installations do not generally require capacity expansion at the grid connection point.
In view of the immediate positive effects of such installations for consumers and the limited environmental impacts they may give rise to, it is appropriate to further streamline the permitgranting process applicable to them, provided that they do not exceed the existing capacity of the connection to the distribution grid, by introducing the concept of administrative positive silence in the relevant permit-granting processes in order to promote and accelerate the deployment of those installations and to be able to reap their benefits in the short term.
Member States should be allowed to apply a lower threshold than 50 kW due to their internal constraints, provided that the threshold remains higher than 10,8 kW.
In any event, during the permitgranting process of 1 month, the relevant authorities or entities may reject the applications received for such installations for reasons related to grid safety, stability and reliability by way of a duly motivated response.
(2) Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (OJ L 26, 28.1.2012, p. 1).