Renewables Archives

Germany’s power sector emissions dropped to their lowest level in 70 years in 2023 while moving past the 50% threshold for renewable electricity production for the first time. However, this is partly attributed to falling industrial production, casting doubt on the country's performance.

Austria generated 87% of its power from renewable sources in 2023 following record years of solar panel expansion, putting it behind Luxembourg in the EU rankings.

On Thursday, the Romanian government approved a bill to make it easier to harness the Black Sea’s abundant offshore wind energy.

Eleven EU countries have called on the EU to take full account of "all fossil-free energy sources" when elaborating future energy and climate policies, according to a joint statement issued on Tuesday (19 December) by the French-led Nuclear Alliance.

All EU countries except Hungary have signed a joint declaration to protect Europe's wind industry from “unfair trade practices” coming from Chinese manufacturers.

By refusing to table a target for 2030, France is failing to implement the EU's renewable energy directive, the European Commission said on Monday (18 December) as part of its "recommendations" on the country's draft National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP).

Nearly every second citizen in Germany and France is either negative towards renewable energies or does not have an opinion on them, according to a recent survey conducted across 26 European countries.

An increasing number of EU member states are adopting non-price criteria in their offshore wind auction designs, write Vasilios Anatolitis, Julia Panny, Malte Gephart, and Pia Weckenbrock. But while non-price criteria can support a wide range of policy objectives, their design and implementation come with challenges, they caution.

Concerned that excluding Chinese manufacturers of solar panels and other green technologies could slow down the energy transition and raise costs, EU countries on Thursday (7 December) agreed to continue allowing Chinese products for most subsidy programmes for renewable energy.

As EU ministers gather to discuss the proposed ‘Net-Zero Industry Act’ on Thursday (7 December), representatives of the European solar industry have warned against the European Parliament's demand to exclude Chinese solar panels from solar auctions.

Romania aims to have over eight gigawatts (GW) in photovoltaic renewable energy production units installed by 2030, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai over the weekend following his country’s accession to the International Solar Alliance.

118 countries – China and India not included – have signed up to a pledge to triple their renewable energy capacity and double their rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030.

China did the world “a big favour” by bringing down the cost of clean technologies like solar panels, said Fatih Birol, the chief of the International Energy Agency (IEA). But with increased economic clout also comes responsibility, he told Euractiv ahead of the COP28 international climate summit in Dubai.

France's draft national energy and climate plan (NECP), recently handed in to the European Commission, fails to mention a renewable energy objective for 2030, referring instead to a "decarbonised" energy target incorporating nuclear power, in contradiciton with the EU's renewable energy directive.

EU plans to produce 35 billion cubic metres of biomethane annually by 2030 are “both unrealistic and unsustainable”, campaigners warned on Wednesday (22 November) as EU countries debate legislation to decarbonise the gas sector and promote alternatives like green hydrogen.

The European Parliament voted on Tuesday (21 November) to include 17 technologies – including nuclear energy – in the EU's Net-Zero Industry Act, paving the way for talks with EU member states to finalise the law in December, and probably whittle down the list.

Investment in the development of the cleantech sector in Europe is too slow and unevenly spread across EU member states, writes Ciarán Humphreys. And despite its best intentions, it is not clear that the EU's Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA) will rectify this, he warns.

With the Net Zero Industry Act due to be voted in the European Parliament on Tuesday (21 November), the EU could exclude Chinese products from public tenders for large renewable energy projects.

The European Commission is considering to use its "trade instruments" as the EU's wind industry continues to struggle with fierce compeition from China, high raw material prices, rising interest rates, and slow permit-granting processes.

Deprived EU regions are looking at innovative solutions like crowdfunding and citizen-led energy communities to finance the transition to a net-zero economy.

The struggling energy transition giant Siemens Energy has successfully petitioned the German government for a guarantee worth €7.5 billion, with parent company Siemens pitching in as well.

Renewable energy production in Portugal reached a new high, exceeding consumption needs for 149 hours in a row, said the energy manager REN on Monday.

Germany’s federal and state governments have agreed on a package to speed up the roll-out of new infrastructure projects such as railways and power grids, in part by automatically approving applications if there is no timely response by responsible authorities.

The EU's biggest hydropower players have gathered to form an alliance and are asking for aid from Brussels as the industry suffers from slow growth due to green concerns and a challenging investment environment.