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Saturday 10 September 2022

(EUR) FRENCH EXPERTS QUESTION 'GO TO AREAS'

The EU is asking member states to identify favourable zones for the deployment of wind and solar energy. But in France, where urban development law complicates administrative procedures, the advantages of these “go-to areas” are being challenged by industry experts.

President Emmanuel Macron warned on Monday (5 September) that France must “move much faster in the production of renewable energies and simplify things significantly. We are at war. That’s a fact.”

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February and the sharp increase in gas and electricity prices, the fossil fuel phase-out has become a burning necessity for the social cohesion and economic health of the Old Continent.

Brussels believes the jittery markets could be somewhat calmed by accelerating the development of renewable energies.

To this end, EU institutions are planning to simplify the granting of permits and to define “go-to areas” for the deployment of renewable energy — two major concerns for the sector, as the European Commission stressed in its proposal for the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive, published on 18 May.

The directive defines these “go-to areas” as a “specific location, whether on land or sea, which has been designated by a member state as particularly suitable for the installation of
plants for the production of energy from renewable sources, other than biomass
combustion plants.”

In its recommendation accompanying the revised directive, the Commission advised that member states start identifying such areas “as soon as possible”.

Go-to or no-go?

But the definition of such areas raises questions among industry actors, some of whom believe it is well-intentioned but drawing on a bad intuition, especially for wind projects.

There are indeed many grey areas on these “go-to areas”, according to the French renewables union, the SER. First, the definition of “go-to” areas would automatically create “no-go” ones for renewables, the industry group told EURACTIV France.

In France, 50% of the territory is already totally out of bounds for the development of renewable energy, the union pointed out. The SER, therefore, fears that the creation of “go-to areas” will add even more restrictions on the implementation of renewables in the remaining 50% of the territory.

Instead, the union recommends that authorities should focus on lifting certain obstacles to the development of projects on the prohibited territory.

Arnaud Gossement, a lawyer specialising in energy and urban development law, says French authorities already have a method for determining areas, the Regional Planning, Sustainable Development and Equality of Territories Plan (SRADDET), which lists the municipalities that are favourable to the production of wind energy.

In the same spirit, the “3Ds bill” adopted in February – which includes measures to differentiate, decentralise, deconcentrate and simplify local public action – increases the discretionary power of local elected officials when it comes to installing wind turbines on the territory of their municipality.

But if this measure could be seen as a step towards decentralisation, in reality, it does not drastically change the number of validated wind projects either, Gossement told EURACTIV France, pleading above all for a general policy of simplifying the law rather than a “simplification by small bits”.

For Gossement, the addition of “go-to areas” therefore looks more like a “stop and go” policy. “On the one hand, the authorities simplify the procedures, on the other, they add modalities,” he said.

Decision-making

From then on, keeping ambiguity on the direction to be taken at the national level ultimately hinders local action, the lawyer said.

With its upcoming law to accelerate renewable energy, the French government could move to simplify the administrative and legal process for the implementation of renewable energy projects.

However, as it stands, the text only provides for a “go-to area” for offshore wind energy, through the Strategic Coastal document (Document stratégique de façade, DSF), which also provides for the grouping of all public debates on the deployment of offshore wind energy, in order to speed up administrative procedures.

For the time being, both at the European and national levels, there are still grey areas regarding the definition of go-to, special or specific areas for the development of renewable energy.

The legislation will have to clarify the situation in France. In Germany, for example, the government is seeking to allocate 2% of its territory to the development of wind energy. Euractiv - link - Paul Messad - link - more like this (EU legislation) - link - more like this (onshore) - link - more like this (France) - link

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