Germany’s economy minister welcomed a deal Friday among European Union countries to increase by more than a third the bloc’s renewable energy target for 2030.
Representatives of the 27 member states approved a package raising the current goal of 32% to 45% by 2030. About 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 includes a number of exceptions to cover the interests of various member states, including specific clauses on hydrogen production.
“The new European rules will trigger an investment boom for renewables and make it legally binding,” said Economy Minister Robert Habeck, whose portfolio includes energy and climate.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has accelerated the EU’s green transition. The bloc reduced its dependency on Russian fossil fuels and increased its renewable energy use over the past year.
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 by 0.8 percentage points annually until 2025, after which it will have to rise by 1.1 percentage points.
This will amount to more than 100 gigawatts of new wind and solar capacity installations across the bloc each year, Habeck’s office said.
The energy, housing, industrial and transport sectors will each have specific targets for renewable energy use.
Source : Valley Press
