Criteria for burden sharing in determining national targets
At EU level, in 2020 the target is a share of renewable energy sources of 20% in overall final consumption of energy delivered for energy purposes (coal, oil, gas, electricity, heat, biomass fuels). This has been translated into individual targets for each Member State (see Table 1). Member States have the freedom to determine the mix of the three sectors (electricity, heating/ cooling, transport) in reaching their national target. Targets vary between 10-13% (in 2005: 0-6%) and 49% (Sweden; in 2005: 40%).
Targets for Member States for the overall share in final energy consumption were derived using the following approach:
Starting point is the 2005 share of renewable energy, modified for Member State that had a 1.
growth since 2001 was > 2% to reflect national starting points and efforts already made. In those cases, one-third is deducted from national growth of the share in the 2001-2005 period; Short title Directive on renewable energy
Title Proposal for a Directive, replacing current Directives - Directive 2001/77/EC on the promotion of electricity from renewable energy sources and Directive 2003/30/EC on the promotion of the use of biofuels from 1 January 2012.
Objective To establish a common framework for the use of energy from renewable sources for reasons of security of supply, environmental protection and competitiveness of the renewable sector. Transport is considered separately because it has the most rapid increase in GHG emissions; biofuels tackle the oil dependence of the transport sector. Biofuels would hardly be developed without a specific requirement because they are currently more expensive than other forms of renewable energy.
Scope Sectors: (1) electricity, (2) heating and cooling and (3) transport.
In transport, the renewable energy share refers only to petrol and diesel fuel. Transport includes other modes of transport such as shipping, rail and aviation.
Heating and cooling, heat pumps should fulfil minimum requirements; passive solar energy systems in buildings are excluded.
Issuance of ‘Guarantees of Origin’ are limited to plants with capacity > 5 MWth.
Gases: mainly CO2
Target Year: 2020
Share in overall energy use:
– EU: 20% in overall final energy consumption (presently 8.5% [2005])
– Member States: between 10% and 49% (presently 0 to 40%). For details, see Table III.1. Share in transport:
– EU and Member States: 10% minimum target is set for the share of biofuels in transport petrol and diesel consumption (presently 2% [2006])
Obligations EU:
– provides means to support the development of renewable energy, such as administrative procedures, planning, construction and information and training.
Member States:
– take steps to guarantee access to the electricity grid for electricity from renewable energy sources and to provide priority access to the grid for renewable electricity.
– issue and ensure that ‘Guarantees of Origin’ (GO) comply with the requirements of the Directive.
– designate a single body to maintain a national register of guarantees of origin, that issues, records, transfers and cancels guarantees of origin; and which reports annually.
Sectors:
– Electricity production: increase generation by renewables
– Electricity transmission and distribution: network operators to provide and develop infrastructure to guarantee access of renewable electricity and to give them priority
– Refineries: blending of biofuels in petrol and diesel – Building sector: architects, spatial planners, builders – Services: equipment and system installers
Target for overall and transport share for 2020 and increase of the overall share 2013-2020 in two-year steps fol- lowing an indicative trajectory.
5.5%-points are added to the modulated 2005 share of renewable energy for each Member 2.
State (5.5% is half of average EU 2005-2020 difference);
The remaining effort of 5.5% is equivalent to 6.7 GJ (0.16 toe) per person in the
3. EU and is
weighted by GDP per capita index to reflect different levels of wealth across Member States, then multiplied by the population for each Member State.
The latter two elements are added together to derive the full renewable energy share of total 4.
final energy consumption in 2020;
For individual Member States an overall cap of 50% maximum on the target share for renew- 5.
able energy in 2020 is applied.
The Commission considers this method of target setting, 50% a fixed increase per Member State and 50% more country-specific based on population size and GDP/cap to provide a fair distribu- tion of effort across the Member States.
Table III.1. National overall targets for the share of energy from renewable sources in final consumption of energy in 2020
Share of energy from renewable sources in final consumption of energy, 2005
Target for share of enrgy from renewable sources in final consumption of energy, 2020
Belgium 2.2% 13% Bulgaria 9.4% 16% Czech Republic 6.1% 13% Denmark 17.0% 30% Germany 5.8% 18% Estonia 18.0% 25% Ireland 3.1% 16% Greece 6.9% 18% Spain 8.7% 20% France 10.3% 23% Italy 5.2% 17% Cyprus 2.9% 13% Latvia 34.9% 42% Lithuania 15.0% 23% Luxembourg 0.9% 11% Hungary 4.3% 13% Malta 0.0% 10% Netherlands 2.4% 14% Austria 23.3% 34% Poland 7.2% 15% Portugal 20.5% 31% Romania 17.8% 24% Slovenia 16.0% 25% Slovak Republic 6.7% 14% Finland 28.5% 38% Sweden 39.8% 49% United Kingdom 1.3% 15% EU-27 average 8.5% 20% Source: EC (2008c) (Annex I)
Annexes
Flexibility
Member States are free to develop the renewable energy sector to correspond best with their national circumstances and potential. This includes the option of achieving their targets by supporting the development of renewable energy in other Member States, provided they collectively reach the 20% target.
Imported electricity produced from renewable energy sources outside the EU may count towards the Member States’ targets. However, only electricity generated by renewable energy installations that become operational after this Directive comes into force is eligible.
The creation of a tradable guarantee of origin regime allows Member States to reach their targets in the most cost-effective way possible. Instead of developing local renewable energy sources, Member States will be able to buy guarantees of origin (certificates proving the renewable origin of energy) from other Member States where the development of renewable energy is cheaper to produce.
Reporting
Member States have to prepare a national action plan to be presented to the Commission by 31 March 2010, and a progress report by 30 June 2011 at the latest and every two years thereafter.
The Commission reports biannually on the basis of the Monitoring Mechanism reports on monitoring and analysis of origin of biofuels consumed in the EU. This will include the impact on land use and commodity price changes due to biofuel use to European Parliament and Council every two years, starting in 2012. The EC may propose corrective action.
Annex: Definitions
Energy from renewable sources refers to the following energy sources: wind, solar, geothermal, wave, tidal, hydropower, biomass, landfill gas, sewage treatment plant gas and biogases. Biofuels have to meet specific environmental sustainability criteria to be accounted for in the target.
Final consumption of energy refers to deliveries of energy commodities to end-use sectors for energy purposes: manufacturing industry, transport, households, services, agriculture, forestry and fisheries (i.e. excluding energy transformation such as electricity production, refineries). It includes the consumption of electricity and heat for own use by the energy sector for electricity and heat production as well as losses of electricity and heat in distribution. The definition excludes delivery of energy commodities as chemical feedstock, such as naphtha for petrochemicals production and gas for ammonia production,or for other non-energy purposes (such as lubrication).
Final consumption of energy from renewable sources in each Member State is calculated as the sum of: (a) final consumption of electricity from renewable energy sources; (b) final consumption of energy from renewable sources for heating and cooling; and (c) final energy from renewable sources consumed in transport.
Hydropower: to avoid large interannual changes due to varying levels of water supply, a normalisation for the average load factor applied to the installed capacity is used. The load factor used is the average of the factors for past 15 years relative to and including the year of calculation.