Renewable Energy Transition Ahead

The energy and climate crises are leading to new proposals to accelerate the approval of renewable energy projects. New EU and national energy and environmental packages are on the way. At the EU level, the European Commission has unveiled the REPowerEU plan in response to the hardships and disruptions to the global energy market caused by the war in Ukraine. At the national level, the recently presented amendment to the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (EIA Act) is intended to accelerate the EIA procedures for renewable energy (RE) projects in Austria.

The REPowerEU plan

The REPowerEU plan aims to reduce dependence on mainly Russian fossil fuels and to accelerate the implementation of energy transition projects. To achieve the desired procedural acceleration of RE projects, the European Commission has prepared a non-binding recommendation on the interpretation of existing EU environmental law. Especially the specification of essential provisions of species