Renewable energy projects should be automatically approved if the planning process takes more than two years, Fine Gael MEP for Ireland south, Sean Kelly has urged.
Lengthy planning and licensing rules are holding up new installations of wind farms, which the MEP said are needed to reach EU climate goals.
Ireland will become increasingly vulnerable and will fail to reach EU emission targets by 2030, unless new projects are set up and planning rules are radically overhauled, he warned.
The MEP said that a time limit has to be put on project applications and if approval is not granted by that particular date, then the project should be approved by default.
Warning of very little energy security and emissions reductions, the MEP said a government bill to streamline the process of renewable energy projects is due to be put forward shortly.
Under Ireland’s Climate Action Plan 2023 the government has set targets to accelerate the delivery of 9GW onshore wind, 7GW offshore wind, and 8GW solar energy by 2030.
Energy security
Meanwhile, the EU’s Economy Commissioner, Paolo Gentiloni has urged that energy support schemes put in place to help people and businesses tackle higher prices should end now.
Speaking after a meeting of Eurogroup finance ministers in Brussels earlier this week, Commissioner Gentiloni warned that continuing EU energy support schemes will risk stoking inflation again.
This means, he said, shifting to more targeted and efficient fiscal support measures to deal with the energy prices and phasing them out gradually as soon as possible.
Gas prices have fallen back below pre-war levels and the latest growth figures are slightly more optimistic than had been forecast, the commissioner said.
While the EU’s economy appears to be holding up better than expected so far this winter, clouds lie ahead, he warned.