RES progress report - European Commission

1 EN EN European Commission Brussels, COM(2020) 952 final report FROM THE Commission TO THE European PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE European ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Renewable Energy progress report 1 1. INTRODUCTION Renewable energy is at the core of the European Green Deal priorities. The D ir e c tive 2009/ 28/E C on t he pr omot ion of the use of energy from renewable sources1 (RED I) is a central element in the EU s energy policy and a key driver for meeting the renewable energy targets for 2020. T he 2020 targets are als o t he f irst major milestone to pr ovide the basis to deliver on the increased ambit ion of 55% greenhouse gas (GH G) emiss ions reduct ions by 2030 as envisaged in t he Climate Target P lan2 under the European Green Deal3.

2 With that increased ambit ion, the EU has establis hed a balanced path to climate neutra lit y by 2050 through the deep decarbonisat ion of a ll sectors of t he economy. In t his sense, a trans it ion is needed from today s energy s ystem to an integrated ener gy syste m large ly based on renewables. As specified in the impact assessment for the Climate Target Plan for the 55% greenhouse gas reduction, the 2030 share of renewables will need to reach 38-40%.4 The Energy System Integrat ion Strategy5 emphas ises that Europe s energy future must rely on an ever grow ing s hare of geographica lly distr ibuted renewable energies that inte grate different energy carriers flexibly, while remaining resource-efficie nt and avoiding pollut ion and biodivers it y loss.

3 Clean and renewable energy will also be a building block of the economic recover y in the aftermath of the Covid-19 cr is is. The Commiss ion s recovery pla n6, as presented on 27 May 2020, highlights the need f or better integrat ion of t he energy system, as part of efforts to unlock invest ment in key clean technologies and value chains and increase economy-w ide resilie nce. In the context of t he Recovery and Resilience Facility, Member States shall prepare national recovery and resilience plans, which shall be consistent wit h the re levant country-spec if ic cha llenges and pr ior it ies ide nt if ied in t he context of the European Semester, in particular those relevant f or or result ing fr om t he green and digita l transit ion.

4 The recover y and resilie nce plans s hall a lso be cons istent w it h the infor mat ion include d by the Member States in the nat iona l reform programmes under the European Semester, in their nationa l energy and climate plans (NECP ) and updates thereof under the Regulat ion (EU)2018/ 1999, in the terr itor ia l just tra ns it ion pla ns under the Just Trans it ion Fund, and in the partnership agreements and programmes under EU funds. A main building block is the entry int o force of the Directive (EU) 2018/2001 on the promot ion of the use of energy from renewable sources (RED II7) on 24 December 2018. The new directive establis hed a robust fra mework f or meet ing t he binding EU target of at least 32 % renewable energy in gross f ina l energy cons umpt ion by 2030.

5 This framewor k built on progress under t he RED I inc lude inter alia the obligat ion for Member States to use the 2020 1 Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the u s e o f en erg y fro m ren ewab le s ou rces, OJL 140, p . 16 2 COM(2020) COM(2020) 562 fin al 3 COM(2019) 640 fin al. 4 SW D(2020) 176 fin al 5 COM(2020) 299 fin al 6 COM (2020)456 fin al 7 Directive (EU) 2018/2001 o f th e Eu rop ean Parliamen t and o f th e Cou ncil o f 11 Decemb er 2018 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (OJ L 328, , p.)

6 82). 2 targets as the baseline for nat iona l tra jector ies in the NECP s. Follow ing t he submiss ion of a ll the NECP s the EU s renewable energy share is now expected to reach in 2030. The aggregated Member States contributions indicate that renewable energy use will grow faster in t he years up to 2030, so that if t he Member S tates deliver (and exceed) the ir renewable energy contributions, the EU overall share of renewable energy w ill t herefore surpass the 32% target. The EU s polit ical pr ior ity of becoming t he wor ld leader in renewables is underpinned by the presence of renewables in a ll dime ns ions of t he Energy Union.

7 Technology leadership is prominent in the clean energy sector ( in part icular in w ind, ocean, smart gr id technologies and renewable hydr oge n), but cont inuing efforts are needed to catch up and build a compet it ive edge in batter ies and solar photovolta ic (P V)9. The EU ranks high among internat iona l compet itors in high va lue patents demonstrat ing the leading pos it ion of Eur ope to innovate and export new and improved low carbon technologies10. The benefits of renewables extend well beyond t he dimens ions of the Energy Union. Renewable energies are a source of economic growt h and jobs for Europeans, in part icular local jobs w it h more than million people curre ntly working in the sector in the EU and ge ne rating an es timate d annual turnove r of billion11.

8 The recent report on energy pr ices and costs in Europe12 documents that the greater amounts of renewable energy are a relevant factor behind the fall in wholesale energy prices in recent years. This could in turn reduce energy costs for industr y and potent ia lly improve industr ia l compet it iveness. Last but not least , the fa lling costs of the technology, combined w ith digita lisat ion are making renewables a real dr iving f orce for empower ing consumers to play a ke y role in t he energy transition. This re port provides the lates t ins ights into progress made up to 2018 towards the 2020 national binding targe ts on re ne wables and ful fils Commiss ion re porting obligations unde r RED I and the Dire ctive on Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC)13.

9 It uses energy statist ics based on Me mber States transmiss ions to E urostat up to July 2020 as pr imary data source for evaluat ing progress towards the 2020 target. This report builds furt her on the Member States f ift h biannua l re newable energy pr ogress report cover ing 2017-1814, as well as comple mentary technical ana lys is conducted in the course of 2020. It also inc ludes an overview of the potent ia l in terms of co-operation mechanis ms , and assess the administrat ive frameworks as well as biofuels sustainabilit y. 8 COM(2020) 564 fin al EU-wide assessment of National Energy and Climate Plans 9 COM(2020)953 report on progress of clean energy competitiveness 10 JRC (2017), Monitoring R&I in Low-Carbon Energy Technologies, h ttp ://pub licatio /repository /handle/JRC105642 11 Eu ro b s erv ER (2020) 2019 b aro meter.

10 Rg/19th-annual-o verview-barometer/ 12 Underlying study from Trinomics for the European Commission October 2020 report on Energy prices and cost in Europe 13 Directiv e (EU) 2015/1513 14 h ttp ewable-energ y/ progress -reports 3 The report cons ist of four main chapters. Chapter 2 sets out an overall EU leve l assessment while chapter 3 adds more detaile d ana lys is of Me mber State progress inc luding project ions towards 2020. Chapter 4 assesses the sustainabilit y of biofue ls. Overall conclus ions with recommendations are presented in Chapter 5. Unless specifically mentioned, f igures pr ovided in this report include the UK, an EU Member State in the 2018 reporting period 2.