WindEurope has called for an overhaul of onshore wind permitting rules in Europe, as part of eight policy recommendations for governments on how to develop enough capacity to help deliver the EU’s Green Deal.
The association said “slow and complex” permitting procedures are the main bottleneck for new wind farms, which can take some authorities three years to decide on a permit.
The delays add to the costs of developing a wind farm, deter investors and stifle technology innovation, said WindEurope.
In their National Energy and Climate Plans EU governments have collectively committed to expand onshore wind to 268GW by 2030.
“But this is a tall order with their current policies and measures, especially on the permitting of new onshore wind farms,” WindEurope said.
The new EU Renewables Directive imposed a two-year deadline and one-stop shops for permit decisions, but few Member States are delivering on this yet. And only six out of 27 said anything specific about the simplification of permitting in their 2030 National Energy and Climate Plans.
Governments also need to beef up the staffing of permitting authorities, at national and local level, said the association.
WindEurope also found that nearly all of today’s onshore wind will need to be repowered by 2050, while four EU countries have strategies for repowering.
The EU also needs a long-term investment strategy for onshore wind that should cover state aid and trade policy and industrial and innovation policy.
WindEurope interim chairman and EDF Renewables France CEO Nicolas Couderc said: “In order to make the European Green Deal a success, we will need to build more than 700GW of onshore wind within the next 30 years.
“This is an exciting challenge for the entire industry that will drive innovation and create jobs, benefiting the environment, consumers and local communities.”