Global Courant
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BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s economy minister on Friday welcomed an agreement among European Union countries to raise the bloc’s 2030 target for renewable energy by more than a third.
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Representatives from the 27 Member States approved a package that increases the current target from 32% to 45% in 2030. Around 22% of the EU’s total energy consumption came from renewables in 2021, meaning the new target will double the amount in less than a decade.
The deal contains a number of exceptions to represent the interests of different member states, including specific clauses on hydrogen production.
“The new European rules will trigger a renewable energy investment boom and make it legally binding,” said Economy Minister Robert Habeck, whose portfolio includes energy and climate.
The Russian war in Ukraine has accelerated the EU’s green transition. The bloc reduced its dependence on Russian fossil fuels and increased its use of renewable energy in the past year.
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Under the new rules, countries that fail to add enough solar, wind and other forms of renewable energy each year could be fined by the EU. The share of renewables must increase annually by 0.8 percentage points until 2025, after that by 1.1 percentage points.
This will equate to more than 100 gigawatts of new wind and solar capacity installations across the block per year, Habeck’s office said.
The energy, housing, industry and transport sectors will each have specific targets for the use of renewable energy.
Agreement had been blocked by France and several Eastern European countries demanding that hydrogen produced from nuclear power be counted towards renewable energy targets. The German government, which opposed this, said this will not be the case now, although there will be “a little more flexibility” on hydrogen targets for countries that meet their renewable energy targets.
Separately, countries agreed to introduce binding quotas for the use of e-fuels – made using renewable energy – in the aviation sector, starting with a share of 1.2% in 2030 and rising to 35% in 2050. Biofuels made from waste products and other renewable resources will need to make up another 35% of jet fuels by the middle of the century.
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