The European Commission is assessing whether the European Union could achieve a higher target of a 45% share of renewable energy by 2030, instead of its proposed 40%, to accelerate its shift from Russian fossil fuels following the invasion of Ukraine.
A European Commission spokesperson said: “The ITRE Committee in the European Parliament has asked the Commission to provide an assessment of the impact of increasing the 2030 RES targets in a letter to Commissioner Simson, in the context of their ongoing examination of its Fit for 55 proposals.
“The Commission is working to respond to this request from the Parliament.”
Furthermore, Reuters reported that at a meeting of EU lawmakers today, Mechthild Woersdoerfer, deputy director-general of the Commission’s energy department said: “We are working on it full speed to take account, first of all the proposal of going from 40% to 45%, but also in the context of higher energy prices.”
Russia is the EU’s top gas supplier, and the 40% renewable energy goal for 2030 was proposed by the Commission last year.
The EU got 22% of its gross final energy consumption from renewables like wind, solar and biomass in 2020.
The share varies widely between EU countries, ranging from more than 50% in Sweden to below 10% in Luxembourg, Reuters said.
The new agency reported that the new target will depend on EU countries and the European Parliament, which are negotiating it as part of a major package of climate change laws to cut EU emissions faster.
A 45% renewable goal already has support from the EU assembly’s lead negotiator and renewable industry groups such as SolarPower Europe – although industry has urged Brussels to do more to unblock years-long permitting delays, it said.
Reuters added that Markus Pieper, Parliament’s lead lawmaker, said the new analysis was needed urgently so it could inform the ongoing negotiations, and urged the Commission not to wait until after the summer.
“Otherwise we’ll be starting again from the beginning,” he said.
The Commission will publish a plan in May to quit Russian fossil fuels by 2027, according to the report, with Woersdoerfer saying this would include a legal proposal to make it easier for renewable energy projects to get permits.