Yemisi Izuora.
The European Union has voted to increase its binding targets on energy efficiency and renewable energy.
Climate Action Programme reported the Industry and Energy Committee Members of the European Parliament (MEP) have agreed to reduce the Union’s energy consumption by 40 per cent and to increase the share of renewable energy sources by 35 per cent by 2030.
The MEPs pursued more ambitious targets than what the European Commission had proposed; prior to the vote the Commission had advised for a 30 percent energy consumption reduction target.
For the energy efficiency targets to be achieved, member states will need to cover all stages of the energy chain, including measures in generation, transmission, distribution, and final consumption.
In addition to the vote, the MEPS voted for renewable energy sources to account for at least 35 per cent of the Union’s energy mix, adding that a minimum of 12 per cent of energy consumed from the transport sector from each member state will have to come from renewables.
As a result, governments will need to set up attractive support schemes that are stable, predictable and without frequent or retroactive changes, media said.
Climate Action Programme noted: “Most importantly, the European Parliament made sure to favour renewable self-producers and self-consumers; a measure expected to boost the deployment of Behind-the Meter (BTM) energy storage applications.
“Consumers will be allowed to take advantage of battery storage solutions without having to pay any charges, fees or taxes. MEPs called for national governments to assess any existing market barriers in order to trigger further development of the sector.”
The new targets also favour community energy projects as it asks national governments to remove any “unjustified conditions or procedures” for households wanting to join renewable energy communities.
Wendel Trio, Director of Climate Action Network Europe said: “The results of today’s votes will send a strong signal on the need to scale up clean energy to EU governments”.
He said: “The economic case of ever cheaper green energy should prompt the EU to move even faster and adopt a 45 per cent renewable energy target”.
James Watson, CEO of SolarPower Europe commented: “The European Parliament has shown ambition by adopting an EU binding renewable target of at least 35 per cent by 2030, sending a clear signal that Europeans expect investments in renewables to increase in the next decade compared to the current one”.
“We now call on the Council to endorse these ambitions and make sure that Europe leads on renewables”, he added.