European Union

Acceleration areas and shortened approval procedures are intended to ensure faster expansion of wind and solar parks as well as energy storage at the same locations. The move implements requirements from the EU Renewable Energy Directive of 2023. Approvals will also be facilitated for electrolyzers to ramp up hydrogen production.

With Europe’s grids ripe for upgrade and expansion, pv magazine’s Carrie Hampel examines community acceptance of energy infrastructure projects and some of the issues involved. Communication between communities and stakeholders is a two-way street.

A new report by SolarPower Europe finds that more renewables, electrification and flexibility can boost European competitiveness, slashing average day-ahead energy prices by a quarter in the next six years and a third by 2040.

The European Union has drawn up new regulations to boost the domestic mining of raw materials and support production of renewable energy products and materials at home. Will it be enough to incentivize investment, or will Europe trail other major economies, such as the United States and China?

Consortia featuring subsidiaries of Chinese solar module maker Longi and Chinese industrial conglomerate Shanghai Electric have withdrawn from a public procurement tender for a solar park in Romania. The European Commission opened two anti-subsidy investigations into their involvement, which have now been closed.

The number of module assembly businesses in Türkiye continues to rise but, despite protectionist moves to support domestic manufacturing, consolidation appears likely. Ambitions abroad, expansion at home, and interest from Chinese suppliers, were all on show at the recent SolarEX trade fair in Istanbul.

Greece has grand plans for an interconnector network that runs from the Middle East through to the heart of Europe. pv magazine examines the latest developments on the road to a Mediterranean super grid and what it might mean for the regions involved.

The European Union has formally adopted a directive on energy performance for buildings. It requires member states to develop their trajectories for reducing energy use in buildings, in addition to ensuring that new structures are solar ready. The legislation will go into force in the coming weeks.

Margrethe Vestager, the executive vice president of the European Commission, said this week that the EU authorities are investigating the deployment of several wind farms in Spain, Greece, France, Romania and Bulgaria.

With ambitious decarbonization targets and a favourable regulatory landscape, Portugal is an appealing market for renewable energy developers and producers. Like other European markets, however, Portugal’s clean energy industry faces challenges related to permitting, grid connection, and the availability of remuneration schemes – hurdles which threaten to slow the country’s energy transition.