Oct 27, 2016

Renewable Energy Directive phase two date mooted

EXCLUSIVE. The date for the publication of the post-2020 Renewable Energy Directive (RED) has been mooted by an industry expert speaking at a biofuels conference.

An industry expert close to the sector, who spoke at the Argus Biofuels conference and wished not to be named, said that he believed RED phase two was due to come out on 7 December, 2016.

However, in a statement to Bioenergy Insight, a European Commission spokeswoman said: “I cannot confirm any such dates. The Commission is currently working on legislation to review the renewables directive, energy efficiency and the electricity market design, and it is for the College to decide when these proposals will be adopted.”

The directive establishes an overall policy for the production and promotion of energy from renewable sources in the EU. It requires the EU to fulfil at least 20% of its total energy needs with renewables by 2020 – to be achieved through the attainment of individual national targets.

All EU countries must also ensure that at least 10% of their transport fuels come from renewable sources by 2020.

For the period after 2020, binding national targets are replaced by a binding EU-level target of at least 27% renewable energy in final energy consumption by 2030 without sectorial targets or binding targets at national level.

As a consequence of this, a new approach to target achievement is being developed, building on the Energy Union Governance and Member States' national energy and climate plans for the period up to 2030, which are expected to include national contributions towards the EU-level renewable energy target.

Biofuels

In relation to biofuels, the Commission’s proposals on RED phase two include the five legislative options: