European Parliament Vote on recast of EED and RED: more ambition and new measures

13 July 2022 – EP Vote on recast of EED and RED: more ambition and new measures

The Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee of the European Parliament adopted its amendments on the recast of the Renewable Energy Directive and the Directive on Energy Efficiency.

The headlines include:

1. The share of renewables in the EU’s final energy in 2030 is to be raised to 45%
2. Energy savings targets raised to 40% in final energy consumption, and 42.5% in primary energy consumption

Following the proposal of the European Commission in July 2021, the ITRE Committee proposed to strengthen the Commission’s proposals as well as creating new measures to reach these 2030 targets. Those most relevant for geothermal are:

• A 2.3 renewable heating and cooling sub-target, which was more than double that proposed by the Commission;
• A training and certification schemes for drillers;
• Mandates on local authorities to perform local spatial renewable heating and cooling planning;
• A legal definition of renewable district heating and cooling systems based solely on renewable energies;
• Stronger recognition and support for renewable heating and cooling purchase agreements
• An indicative target for innovative renewable energy solutions;
• Requirement for ‘one-stop shops’ to provide information on all cost-effective renewable heating and cooling solutions as well as financing opportunities;
• National risk mitigation schemes for heating and cooling.

The next stage is a vote of the European Parliament’s Plenary. This will take place in mid-September 2022. After this vote, the Parliament, governments and the Commission will negotiate to finalise the RES and EE texts.