Europe Doubles Renewable Energy Target for 2030

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The European Union (EU) has voted to double the use of renewable energy over the next seven years to 42.5% of its total energy needs.

The ambitious target has been agreed provisionally by its 27 Member States, and while it is marginally below the 45% goal originally proposed, it is higher than the 40% that Member States wanted. There is also an additional non-mandatory, "aspirational" 2.5% top-up goal that would bring the total figure to 45%. The revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED) will replace the EU's current target for a 32% share of renewable energy by 2030. In 2021, the Union got 22% of its energy from renewable sources--down slightly on 2020, due mainly to the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on project rollout.

The new legislation will also speed up procedures to grant permits for new renewable energy power plants, such as solar panels or windfarms, or to adapt existing ones. The European Commission (EC) stated that a "massive scaling-up and speeding-up of renewable energy" across power generation, industry, buildings and transport will reduce energy prices over time and decrease the EU's dependence on imported fossil fuels.

"Renewable energy will power Europe's future, and contribute to our energy sovereignty by reducing fossil fuel imports," commented Frans Timmermans, executive vice president for the European Green Deal. "Homegrown renewables are also among the cheapest energy sources on the market, so more renewables mean cheaper and cleaner energy sources for our citizens and business. I welcome this agreement, which brings the EU one step closer to finishing our Fit for 55 legislation and meeting the commitments in the EU Climate Law."

The directive now includes industry and transport in its scope for the first time, setting targets for the use of renewable, or "green," hydrogen. The EU plans to produce 42% of its hydrogen from renewable energy sources by 2030, rising to 60% by 2035. This will be a big shift, if achieved, as 95% of hydrogen used in the EU is currently made using fossil fuels.

The share of renewable energy in use across EU's nations differs widely. In 2021, Sweden still had the highest share of energy from renewable sources with a figure of 62.6%, relying mostly on a mix of biomass, hydro, wind, heat pumps and liquid biofuels. According to the Commission's statistical body, Eurostat, it was followed by Finland (43.1%) and Latvia (42.1%) (both using mostly biomass and hydro), Estonia (37.6%, relying mostly on biomass and wind), Austria (36.4%, mostly hydro and biomass) and Denmark (34.7%, mostly biomass and wind). At the other end of the scale, those with the least amount of renewables in their mix were Luxembourg (11.7%), Malta (12.2%), the Netherlands (12.3%), Ireland (12.5%) and Belgium (13.0%).

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